Katherine L. Davis (born June 24, 1956) is an American

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

. She was the 48th lieutenant governor of

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, and the first woman to serve in that office.

Early life and education

Davis was born in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, and earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in 1978. Her professional career started out with Cambridge Collaborative, a research and development consulting firm owned by her father, Richard H. Lyon. She was an acoustics consultant where she analyzed vibrations in submarines. She attributes her experiences at the firm as her inspiration for much of her present career. She earned her master's degree from

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 ...

and relocated to Indiana in 1982. After moving to Indiana, she went to work for the Cummins Engine Company where she spent several years leading their manufacturing operations.

Career

Early career

Davis was appointed by former Indiana Governor

Evan Bayh Birch Evans "Evan" Bayh III ( ; born December 26, 1955) is an American politician who served as the List of governors of Indiana, 46th governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997 and as a United States Senate, United States senator representing Indi ...

as the Deputy Commissioner of the

Indiana Department of Transportation The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Indiana charged with maintaining and regulating transportation and transportation related infrastructure such as state owned airports, List of number ...

. She served in the position from 1989 to 1994 where she oversaw the transportation plans of the state. Davis was appointed as state Budget Director by Governor Bayh in 1995. She was in charge of the state's $10 billion budget before being appointed by Governor

Frank O'Bannon Frank Lewis O'Bannon (January 30, 1930 – September 13, 2003) was an American politician who served as the 47th governor of Indiana from 1997 until his death in 2003. He is the most recent American state Governor to have died in office. O'Ba ...

to the position of Secretary of the Family and Social Services Administration. While in this position, she was in charge of a $4 billion budget as well as more than 11,000 employees. During her time with the administration she oversaw the transition away from large facilities for MRDD and MI populations to more community based facilities. She left public service for a short time in 1998 but returned a short time later to run the public service agency for the Indiana's 21st Century Research and Technology Fund. She was credited with obtaining more than $21 million in contracts within five months in the position. Davis received another appointment in 2000 when former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson made her the Controller for the City of Indianapolis where she served for four years. Upon O'Bannon's death in 2003, Lieutenant Governor Joe Kernan ascended to the governorship, and he appointed Davis Lieutenant Governor, the first woman to hold the post. During her time in office, she served as President of the

Indiana State Senate The Indiana State Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-yea ...

, Commissioner of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce and chaired the Indiana Counter Terrorism and Security Council.

Return to private sector

Davis left the public sector again in 2005 at the end of the Kernan-Davis term. She took a position as the Chief Executive Officer of Global Access Point, a computer network connectivity company headquartered in South Bend, Indiana. She led the start-up of the company where she was in charge of developing markets in data transport, data processing, and data storage for business, health care organizations, and universities. In 2006, Davis developed the idea for a virtual way to allow policy makers to develop complex policies. The program was initially developed by Simulex and then used by the United States Military. Fortune 500 companies also used the technology to select stereotypes for building outcomes. Davis founded Davis Design Group in 2007 as a way to determine results of long-term decisions made by lawmakers. The company uses a system called the Simulated Educational Experience (SEE) to predict the future of the educational system. The system is said to predict how decisions made in the public sector regarding education will affect students in the future.

Return to government

Davis took a position as campaign treasurer for Indiana Senator

Joe Donnelly Joseph Simon Donnelly Sr. (born September 29, 1955) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2013 and as a United States Senate, U.S. Senator from 2013 to 2019. A member of t ...

, but resigned in August 2015 because of Donnelly's vote to defund

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

. She later took a job in an undefined role in Indianapolis mayor

Joe Hogsett Joseph Hadden Hogsett (born November 2, 1956) is an American attorney, prosecutor, and politician who is the 49th mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana. Prior to being elected mayor, Hogsett served as the secretary of state of Indiana from 1989 to 1994 ...

's administration, initially described as "city systems engineer".

Elections

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Kathy 1956 births Harvard Business School alumni Indiana Democrats Lieutenant governors of Indiana Living people Politicians from Boston State cabinet secretaries of Indiana Western Governors University people Women in Indiana politics 21st-century American women politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century Indiana politicians 20th-century Indiana politicians