Pepperdine President Davenport to Retire After 15 Years

Surprising Pepperdine University faculty and staff, President David Davenport announced Monday that he will leave his post June 30, 2000.

Davenport, who will be 50 when he steps down, cited his age and desire to “open a new chapter” in life.

“It just seems so clear to me that this is a good transition time,” said Davenport, who has been the university president since 1985.

Earlier in the day, Davenport made the announcement at a meeting of about 500 faculty and staff members, who gave him a standing ovation. He first disclosed his plans to the Malibu university’s governing board Saturday.

Calling Davenport “a person of great integrity” whose leadership at Pepperdine will be missed, Thomas G. Bost, chairman of the university’s Board of Regents, added: “His performance has been so outstanding that we’d like him to stay forever if he’d like.”

Davenport said he does not know what he will do next but indicated that he might enjoy teaching, possibly at Pepperdine, preaching or running a nonprofit organization.

A graduate of Stanford University and the University of Kansas School of Law, Davenport was an attorney and then a minister for the Church of Christ before he began teaching at Pepperdine’s law school in 1980.

In 1981, he became the university’s general counsel and two years later, its executive vice president. When he assumed Pepperdine’s helm at the age of 34, Davenport became one of the nation’s youngest university presidents.

During Davenport’s tenure, Pepperdine’s enrollment grew by about 15% to more than 7,800, while its endowment more than quintupled, from about $56 million in 1985 to more than $310 million today.

In 1997, the university opened a new school of public policy amid much publicity because Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr was to serve as its dean. Starr, who also was to be dean of the law school, withdrew from the positions last April, citing his ongoing investigations of President Clinton.

Davenport said his proudest accomplishment has been maintaining the Church of Christ-affiliated university’s “quest for academic excellence while holding on to its Christian values.” He also took pride in having expanded Pepperdine’s programs of study abroad.

Davenport lives in Malibu with his wife, Sally, and their three children, age 16, 14 and 10. A search for a new president is underway, Pepperdine officials said.

“What an opportunity to leave a university when it’s on an upward trajectory,” said Andrew Benton, Pepperdine’s executive vice president.