J. Kennerly (Ken) Davis, Jr.

Cornell degree: AB ’68 (A&S)

Unendorsed candidate; petitioned to be on ballot 

Read Ken’s interview.

“The board must, in a collegial manner, foster a revitalized appreciation that the defining purpose of Cornell is not to change the world directly through activism, but to do so indirectly by furthering our understanding of the world through unmatched scholarship and transmitting that understanding across generations.”

Professional experience:

  • Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, senior attorney, 2014–2020 
  • Commonwealth of Virginia, deputy attorney general, 2013–2014
  • Hunton & Williams LLP, counsel, 1998–2013 
  • Virginia Power, vice president, finance and administrative services; treasurer and corporate secretary, 1995–1998; attorney, staff manager, and field operations manager, 1981–1987 
  • Dominion Resources, Inc., corporate secretary, 1987–1995 
  • Hunton & Williams LLP, associate, 1978–1981
  • Legislative aide and speech writer for Congressman Delbert Latta, Ohio, 1974, 1976–1977 
  • Speech writer and research assistant for Senator Robert Taft, Jr., Ohio, 1971, 1972 

Alumni service:

  • Cornell Club of Central Virginia, member, 2004–2005, 1994–1996 

Community/public service/philanthropic priorities: 

  • Federalist Society, member 2004–present 
    • Member of the national volunteer Leadership Group; the Executive Committee of the Administrative Law and Regulation Practice Group; the Regulatory Transparency Project; and the Richmond, Virginia, Lawyers Chapter. Regular contributor to the Federalist Society Review and FedSoc Blog.  
  • Active member of the Cornell Free Speech Alliance, Harvard Alumni for Free Speech, and the national Alumni Free Speech Association, 2022–present 

Other education:

  • MBA, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1993 
  • JD, Harvard University, 1974 
  • MA in politics, philosophy, and economics, Pembroke College, Oxford University, 1970 

Student involvements/activities:

  • Cornell Daily Sun, Guest Room column contributor 
  • Delta Phi Fraternity 
  • London School of Economics, junior year abroad 

Additional information:

I graduated from Cornell in 1968 with an AB in government, magna cum laude, and with distinction in all subjects. My most formative role models have been professors, chief among these Walter Berns and Clinton Rossiter at Cornell, and Zbigniew Pelczynski at Oxford. Over the years, some of my professors became lasting friends. My wife’s father was a respected professor of English at the College of William & Mary. Together, these good professors instilled in me a life-long love of learning, and a deeply felt appreciation for the uniquely precious contribution a true scholar makes to society. My avocational writing and speaking on issues of law and public policy, and my Federalist Society work with law professors, enable me to appropriately honor their memory.