Davidson, former Vanderbilt administrator, dies

Phillip Grant Davidson Jr., a former Vanderbilt University Provost and senior administrator, died Oct. 13, in his Nashville home. He was 98.

A career educator and a longtime leader in the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee, Davidson headed Vanderbilt's graduate school for six years beginning in 1942. He was named the University's Provost in 1948 and left in 1951 to accept the presidency at the University of Louisville, a position he held until 1968. He and his late wife, Jane, returned to Nashville in 1972.

Davidson later served as president of the Nashville Rotary Club, junior and senior warden of Christ Church Cathedral, and a board member of the Salvation Army and Mur-Ci Homes.

Davidson was remembered as a man who sought to bridge the issues that divided his church colleagues, according to Paul Teschan, a retired Vanderbilt professor of medicine who was both a longtime friend and a colleague in the Episcopal Diocese.

"Where there were difficulties, he tried to bring peace and reconciliation," said Teschan, who spoke with Davidson almost daily for the past 10 years. "Where things seemed to be not moving forward in the direction we were hoping, he would tend to develop another way of looking at the situation."

The Diocese of Tennessee awarded Davidson the Bishop's Cross, its highest recognition of service, in 1994.

Prior to coming to Vanderbilt, Davidson chaired the history department at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta from 1928 to 1942. He wrote two books, History of Georgia and Propaganda and the American Revolution.

A native of Omaha, Neb., Davidson started teaching high school and college history courses while pursuing graduate degrees in Illinois in the 1920s.

A memorial service for Davidson was held Oct. 16 in Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville. He is survived by his daughter, Page Davidson Clayton of Nashville; seven grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.