Lincoln Davis to speak at Fall Commencement on Saturday

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (Dec. 4, 2003) – U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, who recently was honored by Tennessee Tech University with a 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award, will return to his alma mater to address about 600 fall graduates during commencement ceremonies at 10 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 13, in Hooper Eblen Center.

Davis, a 1966 TTU agriculture graduate who was raised in rural Fentress County, has been serving Tennesseans since he began his career in public service as mayor of Byrdstown in 1978. Davis served two terms in Tennessee’s House of Representatives and had his second term in the Senate cut short when he was elected to represent the state’s 4th Congressional District in Nov. 2003.

In recent news from Washington, he has been recognized as a leader in the fight to allocate more federal money toward the cleanup of Tennessee’s abandoned coal mines, particularly in the Cumberland Plateau region. He also recently joined Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas to co-sponsor homeland security legislation to crack down on immigrants who overstay their visas.

In the state legislature, Davis supported state employee and teacher pay raises, long-term care for senior citizens, character education in schools and new domestic violence legislation. Davis initiated and fought for a bill requiring counseling and a 12-hour holding period for domestic violence offenders.

Davis holds membership in the House Committee on Science, the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. He is a member of several caucuses, including the Congressional Caucus to Control Methamphetamine and the Congressional Rural Caucus.

Davis, who lives in Pall Mall, also started a construction business, Diversified Construction Co., which builds homes, apartments and offices. Davis and his wife, Lynda, an elementary school teacher, have three daughters, Larissa, Lynn and Libby, and five grandchildren, Ashton, Alexia, Andrew, Austin and Adam.

Students graduating from Tennessee Tech this fall hail from 15 states including Tennessee, 68 Tennessee counties and seven foreign countries. They represent 34 undergraduate fields of study and 16 graduate fields. Following fall commencement, Tennessee Tech will have granted more than 28,000 degrees since 1986.

 
--Karen Lykins
This information posted 8 December 2003