{"id":165386,"date":"2026-04-29T09:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T13:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=165386"},"modified":"2026-04-29T09:32:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T13:32:23","slug":"wright-state-to-award-honorary-doctorate-to-publishing-executive-kirk-davis-at-spring-commencement-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2026\/04\/29\/wright-state-to-award-honorary-doctorate-to-publishing-executive-kirk-davis-at-spring-commencement-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Wright State to award honorary doctorate to publishing executive Kirk Davis at spring commencement"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kirk Davis, a former musical theatre student who led the nation\u2019s largest newspaper company, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters during Wright State\u2019s commencement ceremony on May 2.<\/p><\/div>\n

Wright State University will award an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters to Kirk Davis, a former theatre student who rose to lead the nation\u2019s largest newspaper company, during its spring commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 2, at 10 a.m. in the Nutter Center.<\/p>\n

The recognition honors Davis for his professional achievements as well as the humanitarian values and work ethic that shaped his career.<\/p>\n

Davis began his journey in Lancaster, Ohio, where an early passion for acting led him to Wright State to study musical theatre.<\/p>\n

\u201cWright State was not too far away. I met a couple profs there,\u201d he said. \u201cI was in awe of the talent there \u2014 it was extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Performing was his passion, and he wanted to nurture his natural ability. \u201cI had a tough childhood. Acting was my escape. I found joy in it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, after a year at Wright State, Davis left to return home during a family crisis and care for his mother.<\/p>\n

To support his family, Davis took a job at the Lancaster Eagle Gazette as a district manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a cool title for the difficult, uncelebrated work of managing 125 young kids and their paper routes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Determined to advance, Davis learned everything he could about the publishing industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided to leverage the experience over and over again to earn the highest job I could attain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He went on to advance 12 times in his career, working at newspapers across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach job had a linkage to the last one. Fortunately, I never had to search for my opportunities. I was fortunate to earn them,\u201d he said. \u201cEnough people saw me and took note of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2019, as head of GateHouse Media, Davis oversaw the acquisition of Gannett, forming the nation\u2019s largest publisher of locally based print and online media.<\/p>\n

Following his time in national media leadership, Davis led city magazines in Boston and Philadelphia before serving as head of Harte Hanks Marketing. He retired in February 2025 at age 64.<\/p>\n

Kirsten Halling, Ph.D., professor of French and chair of the University Commencement Committee, said Davis was selected because of his resilience, compassion and leadership \u2014 traits seen in many Wright State students.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike many Wright State students, Kirk faced some adversity during his student years,\u201d Halling said. \u201cWhen we learned that he was forced to abandon his musical theatre major \u2014 and his studies in general \u2014 to support his mother, we recognized his compassion and devotion, qualities we see in many of our students.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also praised Davis\u2019 rise through the publishing industry and the impression he left on colleagues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was incredible was how Kirk worked his way up from nothing, hopping from small jobs in journalism to bigger and bigger responsibilities,\u201d Halling said. \u201cWe were also floored by the many letters of recommendation that came from people who worked for and with him. He was roundly applauded as someone who is always in your corner, cheering you on, getting the best work out of you without pulling rank.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis, who now lives in the Boston area, said that receiving an honorary degree is especially meaningful because of the people he worked alongside throughout his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my success is in part due to management teams or individuals I managed to lead,\u201d Davis said, adding, \u201cI\u2019m honored to receive the award. I have a fond memory of my journey of getting accepted at Wright State.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kirk Davis, a former musical theatre student who led the nation\u2019s largest newspaper company, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters during Wright State\u2019s commencement ceremony on May 2. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":165394,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4309,2107,4859,725,747,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-alumni-association","category-commencement","category-fine-and-performing-arts","category-home-news-sidebar","category-liberal-arts","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165386"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":165407,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165386\/revisions\/165407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}