Jennifer Davis P '27, P '30

Bio

Jennifer L. Davis is the Knott Distinguished Professor of the Practice in the Peace, War, and Defense Curriculum at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy and an accredited Executive Coach.  Formerly, she was a senior career U.S. diplomat who served as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration, Chief of Staff to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, U.S. Consul General in Istanbul, Executive Assistant to U.S. Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, Special Assistant to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Director of the Orientation Division at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute (FSI), and a Watch Officer in the Department of State’s Operations Center. 

In addition to Turkey, she served overseas in Colombia, Brussels (USNATO), and Mexico City.  She is a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. National War College, where she received the George Kennan Award for Excellence in Strategic Writing. Before joining the Foreign Service, Jennifer was a corporate attorney specializing in media and corporate law and clerked for the Honorable Judge James C. Fox in the Eastern District of North Carolina. She received a B.A. with distinction and J.D. with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an LL.M. in international law from the University of Oxford in England.  She lives in Arlington, Virginia with her family and both of her sons attend the College of William & Mary.

Board Appointment Record:
Appointed July 1, 2026 by Governor Abigail Spanberger

2026-2027 Committee Assignments

Committee on Administration, Buildings and Grounds (Vice Chair)
Committee on Academic Affairs