He prioritized mentorship and teaching first-year physics courses during his time at Virginia State, encouraging students to pursue science degrees.
[4] Other awards Davenport received include the Army Commendation Medal for Outstanding Work in Solid State Physics, and the Commonwealth of Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award of 1994 for Excellence in Teaching, Research, and Public Service.
At VSU, he worked for NASA on research related to medium-energy physics and muon spin spectroscopy.
He was a co-principal investigator on another NASA-supported research effort studying the radiation damage in solar-cell materials.
In 1985, the then-Director of APS, Robert R. Wilson, wrote a letter of formal recognition to Davenport which thanked him for his many contributions to the society and to the physics community, in general.