Otto A. Davis

Otto "Toby" Davis, the William W. Cooper University Professor of Economics and Public Policy, died Tuesday evening, May 9. He was 72. Davis was a founder and second dean of the School of Urban and Public Affairs (SUPA), now known as the Heinz School. He was a Carnegie Mellon faculty member since 1960, an innovator in economics and political science, and a beloved member of the campus community who served the university in many ways. In 1968 Davis and colleague William Cooper presented their proposal to create a school that would tackle urban and social planning issues. SUPA was created with a $10 million grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation and welcomed its first class in 1970. Davis served as SUPA's associate dean from 1968 to 1975 and dean from 1975 to 1981. He also launched SUPA's Center for Economic Development. SUPA was renamed the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management in 1992. "From its very first day Toby had a profound impact on this school. Toby breathed life into many of the core values which continue to animate our lives here - not the least of which being the commitment of the institution to inclusion, diversity and opportunity for the most disadvantaged members of society," according to Mark Wessel, Dean of the Heinz School. In 1980, Davis discussed his impressions of the creation of the School and thoughts for its future in "From the Past to the Present and into the Future: SUPA Through the Eyes of its Second Dean." With broad research interests and a self-declared disregard for disciplinary boundaries, Davis held joint appointments in the Heinz School, the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences' Department of Social and Decision Sciences. Known for his broad academic interests, Davis' research spanned several areas, including welfare economics, imperfect markets and the regulation of economic activity. The task of improving public policy through the channel of democracy intrigued him. He was the founder of the Public Choice Society, a community whose goal is to exchange ideas at the intersection of economics, political science and sociology. He served as the society's president from 1970 to 1972. Davis was a fellow of the Econometric Society, a member of the Board of Visitors to Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base and research director of the Pennsylvania Tax Commission. He served as president of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. He contributed numerous articles to professional publications and was on the editorial boards of several journals. Davis received his bachelor's degree in economics and history from Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., and his master's and doctor's degrees in economics from the University of Virginia.