Erroll B Davis, Jr., 75, is a retired senior executive presently engaged with board, philanthropic, senior executive counseling and consulting work.  He most recently served as superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools from July 2011 until his retirement in July 2014. Prior to Atlanta Public Schools, Mr. Davis served as Chancellor of the University System of Georgia from February 2006 to June 2011, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the board of Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: LNT), an energy holding company, from 1998 to 2006, and President and Chief Executive Officer of WPL Holdings, which merged with two other companies to form Alliant Energy, from 1990 to 1998.

Mr. Davis served as a member of the board of directors of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP), a transportation company, from June 2004 until May 2020. He previously served as a member of the board of directors of: Sentry Insurance, a mutual insurance company; PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE: PPG), a global supplier of paints, coatings, and specialty materials, from 1994 to 2007; BP plc (NYSE: BP), a multinational oil and gas company, from 1998 to 2010; and General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM), a multinational manufacturer and distributor of vehicles and vehicle parts, from 2009 to 2015.

Mr. Davis holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Chicago. Erroll’s higher education experience includes serving as a member of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents from 1987 to 1994, a term as a University of Chicago Trustee, and as a former chair and life member of the board of trustees of Carnegie Mellon University. 

A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Erroll earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1965 and an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago in 1967.  He is a member of the board of directors of the Public Broadcasting System and is also a curator of the Georgia Historical Society.  He is on the advisory boards of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), WABE/PBA 30 and the Atlanta Ballet.  He is a past member of the National Academy of Sciences round-table on community resilience.  He is a former member of the U.S. Olympic Committee board (2004–2008) and has served on the boards of numerous community-based organizations.

He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the 2014 100 Black Men of Atlanta Leadership Award and the 2014 Atlanta Partners for Education Partnership Champion of the Year Award given by the Metro Atlanta Chamber.  He was also recognized as one of Georgia Trend magazine’s “100 Most Influential Georgians” in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011; the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “100 Most Influential Atlantans” in 2006 and 2007; one of the “75 Most Powerful Blacks in Corporate America” in 2005 by Black Enterprise magazine; one of the “Top 50 Blacks in Technology” at the Black Engineer of the Year 2005 Awards Conference; and received the Carnegie-Mellon Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 2004.  Erroll also was named one of the “50 Most Powerful Black Executives in America” by Fortune magazine in 2002 and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business in 1993, the same year he received a Bronze Medal in Financial World’s “CEO of the Year” competition.  In addition, Erroll was honored by the magazine U.S. Black Engineer as the “Black Engineer of the Year” in 1988.

Erroll and his wife, Elaine, established the Davis Family Foundation, which has made over 3000 annual grants to numerous students in need. The Davises have two adult children and one adult grandchild.