Melvin L. Davis '55 was born in Wichita, grew up in his childhood home on East 3rd Street, was educated at every level in Wichita schools and graduated from the University of Wichita with a bachelor's degree in business. He also worked at his family's business, the Davis Clothing Co. in downtown Wichita.
After college, he joined the U.S. Air Force and attained the rank of captain before returning to his hometown to run the family business. He soon expanded his business experience by going to work for Willard Garvey – and he expanded his family with his 1964 marriage to Barbara Lewis; together, they raised three sons. In 1974, he designed and constructed Southlake Village Apartments and continued as sole propietor until his retirement in 2002. In 2010, he was inducted as a charter member of the Wichita Apartment Industry Hall of Fame.
Through the years, his business savvy, paired with a strong commitment to education, proved to be a true community asset: He was active as a WSU Alumni Association member and board member, for example, and served on the Wichita school board for six years. In 1991, he was endorsed for re-election in a Wichita Eagle editorial: "Mel Davis is a powerful presence on the Wichita Board of Education who richly deserves re-election. No one else on the board has the combination that Mr. Davis offers: a passion for both fiscal responsibility and school reform."
Mel Davis – an avid golfer who, in 2003, sunk a hole-in-one – died Jan. 16, 2014, in Wichita.