John Herbert Davis (October 5, 1904 – February 28, 1988) was an American academic and diplomat, best known in his early career for his work in
agribusiness
Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy,
in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise.
The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...
(a term he helped coin), and in his later career for heading the
(UNRWA).
Academic and business career
Davis attended the
Iowa State University of Science and Technology
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State b ...
, where he earned a bachelor's degree, and the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
, where he earned Masters and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural economics.
He then taught in various positions in the Iowa schools from 1928 to 1939, with a break in 1935–36 during which he worked for the
U.S. Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production ...
.
From 1939 he became involved in agriculture-related
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...
agencies, working for the
Commodity Credit Corporation
The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is a wholly owned United States government corporation that was created in 1933 to "stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices" (federally chartered by the CCC Charter Act of 1948 (P.L. 80-806) ...
,
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, and
National Wool Marketing Corporation, among other agencies. From 1953 to 1954, he served as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture in the
Eisenhower administration
Dwight D. Eisenhower's tenure as the 34th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1953, and ended on January 20, 1961. Eisenhower, a Republican from Kansas, took office following his landslide victor ...
. From 1954 to 1959 he was professor at
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...
. There he wrote two influential books on the agricultural sector, in which the term "agribusiness" was coined: ''A Concept of Agribusiness'' (1957, with
Ray A. Goldberg) and ''Farmer in a Business Suit'' (1957).
Diplomatic career
Davis left Harvard in 1959 to serve as the fourth Director and first Commissioner-General of the
from 1959 to 1963.
[Benjamin N. Schiff, ''Refugees Unto the Third Generation: UN Aid to Palestinians'', (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995), p. 292.]
In later years he continued to pursue activities related to the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...
. He wrote a book outlining his views on prospects for peace (''The Evasive Peace'', 1970), and founded and served as President of
American Near East Refugee Aid.
See also
*
List of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East employees
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, John (Un)
UNRWA officials
1904 births
1988 deaths
Iowa State University alumni
University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences alumni
Harvard Business School faculty
United States Department of Agriculture officials
American officials of the United Nations