When he finished high school in Tabriz, Davudi traveled to Tehran where he entered a teacher training college and studied education, literature and philosophy; he graduated after three years.

[2] Hossein Nasr, an Iranian professor at George Washington University, counted Davudi among a small number of first rate philosophers in Iran.

During his academic career he wrote many works on the history of Greek and Islamic philosophy, in addition to writing articles on Baháʼí philosophical and theological themes.

Davudi developed much of the institute's curriculum, which included classes on philosophy and mysticism with an emphasis on the study of primary texts rather than commentary.

He also wrote essays on the Baháʼí teachings on life after death; the meaning of freedom; freewill and determinism; the station of man; prayer; the soul; philosophy; the study of history; science and religion; and non-involvement in politics.

[2] After the Iranian revolution in 1979, the Society of Muslim Students declared Davudi as "anti-Islamic" and "anti-revolutionary"; members of militant Islamic groups regularly gathered outside his house, and thus he found that he could not continue to work as a professor and resigned from the university.

As secretary of the NSA he also regularly interacted with the Baháʼí community through letters and talks, encouraging them to be patient through the persecution and co-ordinating the relief efforts.