Justin Davis, a professor at Washington and Lee University, is running for Lexington City School Board as a new candidate.
Davis and his wife, Pilar, moved to Lexington in 2022 so he could start his job as an assistant professor of business administration at W&L. The couple welcomed their first daughter in 2023 and are expecting a second daughter soon.
The Concord, Calif., native attended public schools his whole life. As a boy, he was a dedicated Boy Scout and loved playing sports, boating, family trips and panning for gold in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Davis did his undergraduate studies at U.C. Santa Cruz and then moved to Barcelona, Spain, for graduate school, where he lived for eight years and earned his master’s degree and then his doctorate in economics, management, business and organization. He is fluent in Spanish and taught undergraduate classes in Barcelona.
Though Davis doesn’t have students in the division – yet – he said he’d like to be a part of making sure that his kids and others have a great learning environment.
“I’ve always heard great things about the city schools and now that my own kids will soon be city school students, I want to do my part to keep them supported in providing excellent educations for our young ones,” Davis said. “I’m interested in improving support for what’s already working well. Our schools are very highly ranked. I want to ensure that they continue to offer students an outstanding education and prepare them for an uncertain future.”
Davis said that if he is elected, he plans to do a lot of listening and learning to give him a clear sense of what his priorities would be as a Board member.
“That said, as an educator myself, I’m constantly thinking of what AI means for the future of my college students, and what it means for their education right now,” Davis said.
He said that at the moment, he’s skeptical of technology in the classroom and AI for education, “which I believe is most likely to inhibit learning.”
Davis also understands that a big challenge for public schools is managing enrollment and resources wisely, communicating with families and maintaining a strong record of excellence in education.
At Washington and Lee, he currently teaches two business classes.
“While I find fulfillment in advancing my research and initiating new projects, teaching is my true calling,” Davis wrote in his curriculum vitae.
