Janine Davidson wasn’t the traditional candidate for the role of University President - but that didn’t stop her from pursuing the opportunity.
In 2015, Janine was nominated by President Obama to serve as the 32nd undersecretary of the United States Navy, the second highest ranking civilian position in the maritime branch of the Armed Forces. Her appointment came following 30 years of academic, civilian and military service. She’d established herself as a force in Washington D.C. and earned recognition including HillVets Top 100 Most Influential Veterans, Secretary of the Navy Medal for Distinguished Public Service and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.
She wanted to continue her career in national security, but, with the shift in political discourse happening around the country as President Obama’s term ended, she knew it was time for a change.
Americans were talking about income inequality and student debt with increased fervor. Janine had devoted her career to strengthening America’s reputation internationally, but suddenly she was drawn to serve a bit closer to home.
Janine applied for the role of president at Metropolitan State University (MSU Denver) because she believes in the power of higher education to strengthen the foundation of our democracy. After a prolific career in D.C., she felt ready to lead Colorado’s third largest public university into the future, and she’s done just that.
As president of MSU Denver for the past four-plus years, she’s led the charge in the development of high-quality, career-oriented programs that service Colorado’s community and power its economy. One of her most notable accomplishments is facilitating the launch of the school’s classroom-to-career hub, connecting students to the resources they need and thereby strengthening the college-to-career pipeline. Helping people find their purpose inspires her passion for leadership.
Though she’s newer to the community, her impact on Colorado has already been significant. She has served the Metro Denver region as a member of the Denver Education Compact and Denver’s Complete Count Committee and on the boards of the Downtown Denver Partnership, the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation and the Rose Community Foundation and Colorado Concern. She’s been recognized as one of the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce 2019 Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business and a 2021 Denver Business Journal Most Admired CEO.
Nationally, Janine spent three years on the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service, which made recommendations to congress on how to inspire more Americans toward public service. She is a National Association of Public Administrators fellow and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Recently she was appointed by the Secretary of Defense to serve on the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board.
Janine is a leader who mentors, coaches and invests in individuals, whether they’re students, or sailors. Those who work with her describe her as an authentic, genuine, humble leader who is driven by purpose and community and who thrives in seeing her mentees go on to achieve great things in their chosen professions.
Vote for Janine to be the 2022 9NEWS Leader of the Year.
