Inside: - UW-Milwaukee

Alumni Profile
The “Davis” Brand
Steve Davis
Chairman of the Board and
Chief Executive Offi cer
Bob Evans Farms, Inc.
BBA-Marketing, 1980
W
hen Steve Davis (BBA-Marketing ’80) talks about his
education at UWM’s business school, he is proud to
note that he is the youngest of fi ve siblings who are all
UWM graduates.
Steve, sisters Theresa, Peggy, and Beverly, and brother Henry (a
’73 business grad and a member of the UWM Athletic Hall of
Fame for basketball), attended UWM throughout the decade of
the 70s, with Steve the last to graduate in 1980.
It was a veritable “Davis” brand on the UWM campus.
Which is a fi tting analogy for Steve Davis, who has built an
outstanding executive career among some of the country’s most
recognizable brand names in the food and restaurant industry —
Velveeta, Cheez Whiz, Budget Gourmet, Pizza Hut, Long John
Silver’s and, now, Bob Evans Farms.
“I have truly been blessed to work with the top brands in their
respective industries,” said Davis.
Davis was named Chief Executive Offi cer of Bob Evans Farms, Inc.
in May of 2006, and has subsequently been appointed Chairman
of the Board. Bob Evans specializes in bringing farm-fresh foods
to its customers through its Bob Evans and Mimi’s Café restaurants,
as well as through retail food products. The Ohio-based company
has annual sales of approximately $1.6 billion.
Before taking the helm at Bob Evans, Davis worked at Yum!
Brands, Inc., where he was President of Long John Silver’s and
A&W All-American Food Restaurants since 2002. Previously, he
served as Vice President of Operations and Senior Vice President
of Concept Development for Yum! Brands Pizza Hut division,
where his team launched the Wing Street Concept — a multi-
branding approach that is now widely used in the quick service
restaurant industry.
Prior to joining Pizza Hut in 1993, Davis enjoyed a nine-year
career with Kraft Foods, starting out as a brand assistant and
steadily advancing to Director of Marketing for the Budget
Gourmet brand. In between, he held a series of brand management
positions in Kraft’s cheese business where he launched
several successful new products and marketing campaigns.
In addition to his degree from UWM, Steve Davis earned an MBA
from the University of Chicago. He was recognized in 2005 as
one of the “75 Most Powerful Black Men in American Business”
by Black Enterprise Magazine, and Black MBA Magazine named
him one of the “Top 50 Under 50.”
Davis, who worked for two years as an intern at Northwestern
Mutual while he was an undergraduate, said that his business
education and the professional experience he gained while a
student allowed him to tailor his education to his needs and
provided important career grooming. “Additionally, I had
wonderful, approachable professors and TA’s,” he shared. “I
really had a great education and a great time at UWM.”
Mostly, though, Davis attributes the “founders” of the “Davis”
brand — his parents — with his success.
“My parents are incredible people,” said Davis. Although neither
was college educated, Henry and Dolores Davis preached the
value of education to their children and encouraged them at
every juncture, through Messmer High School, UWM, and
beyond. “All the credit for what we have achieved and who we
are today goes to them.”
SPRING 2007 9