[1] Born and raised in Summit, New Jersey,[2] he graduated magna cum laude from Stanford University in 1969 with a BA in economics.
[3] From 1973 until 1989, he taught economics at McGill University and from 1986 to 1989, he was Vice Principal for Planning & Computer Services.
Several years into his term, during a period of tight provincial budgets, he sought to close the Faculty of Dentistry and drop the Football program.
[4] These controversial proposals proved unpopular and brought resistance on many fronts, including that of the university's Board of Governors, and he was not offered a second term.
Davenport is the chair of the board of governors of the University of Rwanda, and is also a member of Rwandan president Paul Kagame's Presidential Advisory Council.