Donald Jack Davis, 87, Fort Worth, Professor Emeritus of art and founding dean of what is now the College of Visual Arts and Design, died July 24. His academic career at UNT spanned 40 years as he helped build the college and shape its academic vision, programs and values. Under his leadership, UNT became a national leader in arts education and a hub for interdisciplinary creative research.

The first in his family to attend college, Jack earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Baylor University and a Ph.D. in art education from the University of Minnesota. He then taught at Texas Tech before joining the North Texas art faculty in 1971. At UNT, he served as director of graduate studies in art, chair of the Department of Art, vice provost of the university, founding dean of the School of Visual Arts (now CVAD), and co-director and director of the North Texas Institute for Educators on the Visual Arts, retiring in 2011.

He wrote more than 50 publications and presented more than 100 papers at professional meetings. His research and creative activities, funded by organizations such as the J. Paul Getty Trust and the Annenberg Foundation, focused on curriculum development in the arts. His interests also included Texas art history, particularly early Texas artists, 19th-century Texas silversmiths and Texas women artists.

Active in professional associations, he was a lifetime member of the National Art Education Association, serving on its board and chairing its higher education division. Among other honors, the organization named him a Distinguished Fellow in 1989 and National Art Educator of the Year in 2005, and it presented him with the Eisner Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024, for lifetime professional achievement advancing art and art education. He also was a lifetime member of the Texas Art Education Association, which he served as president. He was named Texas Art Educator of the Year in 1990 and became a TAEA Distinguished Fellow charter member in 1993.

As a CVAD Advancement Board member and consultant to school districts, universities and art museums, he also served on the boards of organizations including the Greater Denton Arts Council, the African American Museum in Dallas, the International Council of Fine Arts Deans, the National Council of Art Administrators, the Southwest Region of the College Board and CASETA (the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art). He was a founding member of the Public Art Committee in Denton, served on the UNT Press Editorial Board and the CVAD Advisory Board, and chaired the UNT Libraries Advocacy Board.

A lifelong learner and collector, he continued in his retirement years to collect antique silver, Native American baskets and works by Texas artists, especially women artists in Denton. He contributed several chapters for the book Making the Unknown Known: Women in Early Texas Art, 1860s-1960s. He also was known for his love of entertaining and storytelling.

His death came 16 days after the death of his wife of 63 years, Gail Comer Davis. They were members of UNT’s Matthews Society and 1890 Society, generously supporting UNT. The family requests that memorials be made to the D. Jack and Gail C. Davis Dean’s Excellence Endowment in CVAD, which the couple established in recognition of Jack’s leadership as founding dean and their shared commitment to advancing the arts. They also created the D. Jack Davis and Gail C. Davis Endowment for the D. Jack Davis Art Education Collection at the UNT Libraries, which supports the continued growth and digitization of the collection.

A memorial service and reception celebrating Jack’s life will be announced at a later date.