Steve Davis - Nurse, Director, Dean

Steve Davis speaks at a retirement party as Dr. McCleery looks on

Those three words said together have a rhythm that reminds one of lights, camera, action, and essentially that sums up Steve Davis’ career. He started as Professor of Nursing in 1978 and felt as if he was in a spotlight. Then, he progressed to Director of Nursing, and people tend to remember what you do as if someone had taken a picture. Then he finally lands the Dean of Business and Technology job in 1999 and realized, “Hey, I’m an administrator, I can do much more for the nursing program than I did as a teacher.” There you have it, action.

“I can honestly say that I still wake up every morning and look forward to coming to work. Not many people can make that claim after 25 years on the job.” says Davis.

“First and foremost, I’ll miss the people. They are just fantastic. In my 25 years they have been with me through my marriage, the raising of all three of my kids. Heck, these people raised me,” said Davis.

“Secondly, I’ll miss the priorities that NMJC has put on technology. It’s a lot of fun to be able to upgrade the computer lab to make sure the faculty has what they need to teach, or to implement SMART classrooms and see how the faculty enjoys using them,” says Davis.

The biggest influence in his life at NMJC has been Joyce Gombar – former Director of Allied Health. “When I first started teaching, she mentored me and took me under her wing. She was the reason that my transition from faculty to director was so easy,” says Davis.

“The biggest influences in my personal life are my wife and children. They are everything to me,” states Davis.

When Davis retires he plans to move to Texas because he wants to be closer to his children.

“I really want to get back into teaching,” said Davis. “To me, teaching is fun, because it’s different every day. I think if you’re teaching and not enjoying it, you’re probably in the wrong profession.