Robert Edward Davis (August 28, 1939 – August 4, 2010) was the Chief Justice of the

Kansas Supreme Court The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of seven justices, led by Chief Justice Marla Luckert, the court supervises the legal profession, administers the judicial branch, and serves as t ...

from 2009 to 2010. He was first appointed in 1993 and became chief justice on January 12, 2009.

Personal life

Davis was born in 1939 in

Topeka Topeka ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeaste ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. He graduated from

Creighton University Creighton University () is a private research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in Political Science in 1961. While there he was President of the Arts Council. He then attended

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

where he was a member of the ''

Georgetown Law Journal ''The Georgetown Law Journal'' is a student-edited scholarly journal published at Georgetown University Law Center. It is the flagship law review of the Georgetown University Law Center. Overview The ''Georgetown Law Journal'' is headquartered ...

''. He earned his

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from Georgetown in 1964.

Professional life

Davis began his career as a member of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps where he served as trial counsel in the

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and as government appellate counsel in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

from 1964 to 1967. In 1967 he returned to

to engage in private practice in Leavenworth which he continued until 1984. Davis' first judicial post was as a magistrate judge in Leavenworth County from 1969 to 1976. He served as an attorney for the State Board of Pharmacy in 1972 and Leavenworth County attorney starting in 1981 until appointed associate district judge in 1984. Two years later, in 1986 Davis was appointed to the

Kansas Court of Appeals Kansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named after the Kansas River, in turn named a ...

. In 1993, Governor

Joan Finney Joan Marie Finney (née McInroy; February 12, 1925 – July 28, 2001) was an American politician who served as the 42nd governor of Kansas from 1991 to 1995. Prior to her tenure as governor, Finney served four terms as the Kansas state treasure ...

promoted him to the

. In January 2009 he became chief justice when Kay McFarland resigned due to state mandated age limits. Davis also held many offices and memberships. He was a member of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Alcoholism from 1971–1976 under Governor Robert Docking, chairman of the board of trustees for St. John's Hospital in Leavenworth from 1980 to 1984, director and president of Leavenworth County Community Corrections Board in 1980–1984, director of the Leavenworth Historical Society from 1970 to 1975, general counsel and board of directors for Leavenworth National Bank and Trust Co. from 1972 to 1984, and a council member for St. Mary's College in 1984. He also served on the Governor's Adoption Reform Task Force under Governor

Kathleen Sebelius Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of health and human services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebelius was instrumenta ...

and was an officer of the

American Inns of Court American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. Davis died on August 4, 2010, one day after retiring from the bench. He was 70 years of age.

References

External links

Official Biography
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Robert E. 1939 births 2010 deaths Kansas state court judges Chief justices of the Kansas Supreme Court Kansas Court of Appeals judges Georgetown University Law Center alumni Creighton University alumni People from Topeka, Kansas People from Leavenworth, Kansas 20th-century American judges