Robert Edward Kizer, Jr. '61
(Year Awarded 2006) Davidson’s Statement of Purpose charges us to prepare students for “lives of leadership and service.” Anyone looking for an example of Davidson’s success in that endeavor need look no further than Ed Kizer. Ed’s service to his community and alma mater began immediately after his graduation from Davidson when he served as an officer in the United States Army. Ed later became a banker, ultimately becoming president of United Carolina Bank of South Carolina. That phase of his career took him and his family to several cities in the Carolinas. In every one of those communities Ed was an example of the Davidson tradition of servant leadership, serving as chairman, board member, or president of organizations including several Chambers of Commerce, the Red Cross, a symphony orchestra, the Urban League, hospitals, libraries, Rotary, the United Way, the Boy Scouts, and the North Carolina Zoo. After 28 years as a banker and community servant, Ed decided to make the leap from finance to the nonprofit sector, and moved back to greater Charlotte to assume the role of Vice Chancellor for Development and University Relations at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Ed was instrumental in the growth of the Ben Craig Center (an entrepreneurship incubator affiliated with UNCC), and also contributed his services to the YMCA of Greater Charlotte, WFAE public radio, and the World Affairs Council of Charlotte. Ed has also served Davidson in myriad ways, being the first Annual Fund class agent for the class of ’61, a Reunion chair, and a member of the Wildcat Club, the Board of Visitors, the Ne Ultra and William Lee Davidson Societies, and a volunteer for the Let Learning Be Cherished Campaign. Not limiting his service to the College, he also served the town of Davidson for nine years as a board member of The Pines at Davidson, serving as chair of that board for two of those nine years. Ed and Page’s commitment to higher education and to Davidson’s mission is perpetuated through the Ed and Page Kizer Fund, which provides Davidson students with internship opportunities with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools, and provides for a faculty position at Davidson, the Kizer Directorship of Education. For your tireless efforts to improve every community you have lived in; for your belief in the value of education, both public and private; and for your enthusiastic and generous life of commitment to Davidson, your alma mater is honored to present you with this Alumni Service Award on the occasion of your forty-fifth Reunion, April 29, 2006.
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