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~ Robert Thomas Davis '76 ~

Being named Teacher of the Year once is astounding enough for any educator.  To do it twice takes someone like 2006 IUP distinguished alumnus Robert T. Davis. These two awards were steppingstones to his becoming music supervisor of the nation’s fourth-largest school district. 

Mr. Davis, who earned a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from IUP in 1976, is district supervisor for Music Education with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the only one of the country’s top four districts that still embraces music education from kindergarten through twelfth grade.  In his nearly three decades with Miami-Dade, Mr. Davis has built an impressive music education system. 

Under his supervision, the district has formed partnerships with the Florida Grand Opera, New World Symphony, Youth Patronesses of the Opera, Dranoff Duo Piano Festival, Sunday Afternoons of Music for Children, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and the Miami Children’s Chorus.  Students in the district, through Mr. Davis’s efforts, have had the opportunity to interact with professional artists that include Nestor Torres, Ed Calle, Jon Secada, Arturo Sandoval, Peggy Cass, Chuck Mangione, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Roberta Flack.  Mr. Davis also has introduced teacher in-service activities centered on elementary choral conducting, female composers, innovative elementary repertoire, exceptional student education inclusion, music technology, secondary orchestral conducting, and critical thinking through the arts.

Mr. Davis represented Florida at a prestigious national arts education research institute at NYU from 1988 through 1992, publishing An Approach to Teaching Music Composition to Inner City Middle School Students in a Magnet Setting. With a grant from the city of Miami, Mr. Davis composed and published Joyful Noise: A Collection of Elementary Holiday Songs. Consequently, Warner Brothers purchased the rights to the music. 

He also has emerged as a popular advocate for arts education at the state level as a board member for various organizations, including Arts for a Complete Education, City of Wilton Manors Community Advisory Board, and the Miami Children’s Chorus.  He is the first Floridian to be nationally recognized as a music educator by the Music Educators National Conference, and he was honored on the floor of the Florida Senate for “Outstanding Contributions to Music Education.”  In 1984 and 1986, Mr. Davis was named Teacher of the Year. In 2005 he created the countywide Ambassador Orchestra, which represents Miami-Dade County Public Schools at many district events. 

A distinguished leader in his profession, the Glenside, Pennsylvania, native is a member of many cultural organizations, including the Music Educators National Conference; Florida Music Educators Association; American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP); Dade Association of School Administrators; Arts for a Complete Education/Florida Alliance for Art Education; and Dade County Music Teachers Association.  Additional credits include serving as musical director for theatrical productions, from the Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theatre to the State Theatre of Maine. After earning his bachelor’s degree at IUP, Mr. Davis went on to earn a master’s in music from the University of Miami. 

At IUP, he was active in the University Chorale, Theatre-by-the-Grove, and Alpha Psi Omega and assumed lead roles in Girl Crazy and Company. In 1983, he was asked to return to his alma mater to direct the acclaimed opera theater production of My Fair Lady.  Mr. Davis lives in Ft. Lauderdale.