Major General Andrew B. Davis (Ret.)
Last Name: Davis
Middle Name: B.
First Name: Andrew
ACNSL Offices and Committees:
Rank: Major General
Service/Department: Marine Corps
Medals and Honors: Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, and the Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal.
Last or Significant Assignment: Commanded the Marine Corps Mobilization Command until his retirement in 2008.
Major General Drew Davis retired in 2024 after 6-1/2 years as chief executive officer of the World War II Foundation, a not-for-profit educational organization with the mission of teaching current generations on the courage, dedication and sacrifice of the World War II generation through the production of documentary films for airing globally on public television, a museum in Kingston, RI, an educational online portal, production of 360-degree virtual reality “field trips” to the battlefields of the war, and maintenance of a memorial in Normandy, France. During that tenure, he increased the annual fundraising revenue of the foundation from $400,000 to $1.25 million from individual and corporate donors.
General Davis retired from the Marine Corps in October 2008 after a 38-year military career including tours in three wars. He was commissioned as a Marine officer in 1970 following graduation from Princeton University. During his career, he served as an infantry officer and commanded at every level from platoon to force. His Marine Reserve infantry battalion was activated for Operation Desert Storm in 1990, and deployed to the Philippines where it became the first Reserve battalion to qualify as special operations capable and conducted the relief of the Subic Bay naval base in the wake of the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. Promoted to brigadier general in 2000, Davis was the director of Marine Corps Public Affairs at the Pentagon from 2001 to 2003. There, he led the development of the embedding program for frontline journalists in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. Subsequently, Davis commanded U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa from 2005 to 2007, and the Marine Corps Mobilization Command until his retirement in 2008.
His decorations include the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, and the Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal.
In his civilian profession, Davis worked in the newspaper industry as reporter, editor, publisher, and educator. He was group publisher of Pioneer Press Newspapers and president of Chicago Sun-Times Features, Inc. He served as associate director of Northwestern University’s Media Management Center, clinical professor of media management at Northwestern’s Kellogg School, president of the American Press Institute, executive director of the Reserve Officers Association of the U.S., and senior director of the Capstone-Keystone-Pinnacle program for new flag and general officers at National Defense University. He served as a commissioner and subcommittee chairman on press freedom, U.S. State Department Commission on UNESCO, and is a fellow of the American College of National Security Leaders.
He is a board member of nonprofit organizations: the Annapolis Maritime Museum, Dwight D. Eisenhower Society, and Princeton Veterans Alumni Association, as well as the Annapolis Yacht Club.
He is married to Margaret Bergan Davis, a nonprofit organization executive. Residents of Annapolis, MD, they are avid cruising and racing sailors.
He has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Foreign Policy Magazine, The Hill, and in Ambassador’s Review.
