Erroll B. Davis Jr.

As chancellor of the University System of Georgia, Erroll B. Davis Jr. is responsible for the state's 35 public colleges and universities. The University System has 253,500 students, 35,000 faculty and staff, and an annual budget of $5 billion. Additionally, the University System of Georgia has administrative responsibility for the Georgia Public Library Service, which manages the state's 58 public library systems.

Davis, who took office on February 6, 2006, had served as chairman of the board of Alliant Energy Corporation – an energy holding company with $8.3 billion in total assets and annual operating revenues of $3 billion – since 2000. He joined Alliant in 1998 as president and chief executive officer. Davis retired from his dual roles as president and CEO in July 2005, and retained the chairman's post until his move to the University System.

Prior to the creation of Alliant Energy, Davis served as president and CEO of WPL Holdings, from 1990 to 1998. From 1978 to 1990, Davis rose through the senior management ranks at Wisconsin Power and Light Company, starting as vice president of finance and ending as CEO and president. His career also includes corporate finance positions at Xerox Corporation and Ford Motor Company.

Davis' higher education experience includes serving as a member of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents from 1987 to 1994, and as a former chairman of the board of trustees of Carnegie Mellon University, of which he is a life member. He presently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago. A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Davis earned a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, in 1965, and a M.B.A. in finance from the University of Chicago, in 1967. He is a member of the board of directors of BP p.l.c., PPG Industries, Inc., and Union Pacific Corp., and numerous professional associations and civic organizations. In 2004, he was elected to the U.S. Olympic Committee Board, and he chairs the USOC's Audit Committee.

Davis and his wife, Elaine, established the Davis Family Foundation, which makes annual grants to numerous students in need. He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including recognition as one of the "75 Most Powerful Blacks in Corporate America" by Black Enterprise magazine in 2005, one of the "Top 50 Blacks in Technology" at the Black Engineer of the Year 2005 Awards Conference, the Carnegie-Mellon Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 2004. Davis also was named one of the "50 Most Powerful Black Executives in America" by Fortune magazine in 2002 and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business in 1993, the same year he received a Bronze Medal in Financial World's "CEO of the Year" competition. In addition, Davis was honored by the magazine U.S. Black Engineer as the "Black Engineer of the Year" in 1988.