Howard University selects former HBO Executive Kery Davis as Director of Athletics

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Former HBO executive Kery Davis named Director of Athletics at Howard University on Wednesday, the New York Post has learned.

Davis, 57, had served as senior vice president for programming at HBO before leaving the company in early 2014. During his 17-year career at HBO, he helped negotiate some of the biggest and richest fights in boxing history, including matches involving Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones, Jr., Manny Pacquiao, Bernard Hopkins and Mike Tyson. Davis is a graduate of Dartmouth College where he played point guard on the school’s Division 1 basketball team. His vision is to combine his experience as a collegiate athlete with his contacts in sports and entertainment to raise the profile of Howard athletics.

“I probably don’t do this job at any place other than Howard,” Davis told the Post when contacted to confirm his appointment. “It was an opportunity to work at a school with a rich tradition and legacy of graduating people who are pioneers in the arts, in civil rights and every other industry; people who I looked up to growing up. So it struck a chord with me. It’s the right challenge in exactly the right time of my life.”

University President Wayne A. Frederick is expected to make the formal announcement at the Washington D.C.-based school on Wednesday. Shelley Davis had served as interim athletic director since January after Louis “Skip” Perkins resigned to pursue other professional endeavors. This will be Davis’ first experience working in intercollegiate athletics. But he’s confident his diverse experiences have prepared him for the job.

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