The annual faculty-staff conference, to be held Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 19-20, focuses on the theme, “Promise and Possibility: Serving and Leading in a Global context.”

Keynote Speaker Robb Davis

Dr. Robb Davis, director of health initiatives at Freedom From Hunger, will address faculty and staff on Wednesday, Aug. 19

Robb Davis of Davis, Calif., will open the conference 9:30 a.m. Wednesday with an address on the program theme. Dr. Davis received a masters of public health as well as a doctorate from the School of Hygiene and Health at Johns Hopkins University and has considerable international experience.

He is director of health initiatives at Freedom From Hunger, an organization that combines microfinance, education and health protection to help poor women in Africa, Asia, and Latin America achieve a sustainable, self-help end to hunger. Davis has taught in EMU’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute a number of years.

An interactive session with Davis will follow at 11 a.m.Main sessions will be held in Martin Chapel of the seminary building.

EMU President Loren Swartzendruber will give a “state of the campus” address 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

Other activities will include a music and storytelling session, faculty workshops on cross-cultural programs and intensive writing, a voluntary cholesterol screening and worship led by Kenneth J. Nafziger, professor of music.

Other back-to-school activities

The annual all-campus picnic will be held on the front lawn Wednesday evening, Aug. 19.

Students who will serve as community advisers or ministry assistants will begin arriving for training sessions Friday, Aug. 21.

First-year students will check into the residence halls Aug. 29. Orientation programs for new students run through Monday, Aug. 31.

Returning students will arrive on campus Sunday, Aug. 30. Final fall semester registration will be held Monday, Aug. 31.

Fall convocation, Sept. 2

President Loren Swartzendruber will speak at an opening convocation 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 2 in Lehman Auditorium on the theme, “Educating to serve and lead in a global context.” Student cross-cultural groups going to South Africa and Lesotho for the fall semester will be commissioned.

EMU’s fall semester runs through Dec. 18.

(MCC), Akron, Pa., announced that Dr. Robert William Davis has been appointed the next executive director of the 85-year-old relief, development and peace agency.

Dr. Davis, who is currently senior vice-president of program services for Freedom from Hunger in Davis, Calif., will begin his assignment on June 1, 2005. During the month of June he will work closely with the outgoing executive director, Ronald J.R. Mathies, and will assume full responsibilities at the end of the month. Mathies, who announced his retirement in September 2003, has served as executive director for nine years.

Davis said he is motivated by a strong vision for Christian ministry and a desire “to serve and seek to be an agent of reconciliation, a faithful servant and a community builder.” He has taught in the (SPI) at 草莓社区. In May 2005, he will be teaching the course, “Designing learner-centered training for conflict transformation.”

“For two years, Robb Davis has taught the course, ‘Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach: Popular Education for Peace’ in EMU’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute and is scheduled to teach again this summer,” said Pat Hostetter Martin, SPI director. “He is a dynamic instructor. SPI has been blessed to have his expertise in the design of training as well as his positive spirit in the educational process.”

A native of Lancaster County, Pa., Davis brings extensive international development, poverty alleviation and public health experience to the job. He holds a master’s degree in public health and a Ph.D. in population dynamics, both from John Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Md. He also holds a bachelor of science in theology from Lancaster (PA) Bible College.

Early in his career Davis served as a health technical advisor and administrator for World Vision in the west African country of Mauritania. He has served as an independent consultant to various development agencies such as the International Assistance Mission, Catholic Relief Services, the World Bank, Peace Corps and the International Catholic Migration Committee.

Davis is also the chair of the Child Survival Collaborations and Resources Group (CORE), a 38-member professional consortium of U.S. nongovernmental organizations (NGO) engaged in maternal and child health work around the world.

Davis and his wife, Nancy, are parents of two children. Their eldest child is a student at Bethel College, North Newton, Kan., and their youngest remains at home. The couple is founding members of a Mennonite house fellowship in Davis, Calif. While living in Lancaster they attended East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church.