Who Is Chalmer Davee?

Dr. Chalmer Davee (1903-1983) was once a student at the River Falls Normal School, graduating from the three-year teaching program in 1922. Davee served as a commander in the U. S. Navy in WWII and went on to become not only a teacher, but a medical doctor as well as a member of the Wisconsin Board of Regents (1945-1953). 

As regent, Davee played an instrumental role in broadening the mission of the university and obtaining the liberal arts accreditation for the school in 1951. Chalmer Davee was chosen as namesake of the new library building, which was dedicated on the Wisconsin State University-River Falls campus on May 9, 1955, because of the increasingly large and diverse library collection that reflected the growth on campus and the creation of new programs that came under his regentship.

When the Board of Regents unanimously accepted a resolution that the new library be named "The Chalmer Davee Library," President E. H. Kleinpell wrote to Dr. Davee, "I hope it recognizes in some small way what you have done for the college at River Falls. It is my firm conviction, and one shared by the faculty, that you have attributed much to the stature of higher education in Wisconsin in general and to this college in particular."

Standing with a model of the Davee library building in1955, left to right: author-lecturer Howard Pierre Davis, Chalmer Davee, WSC-RF President Eugene Kleinpell, Lt. Governor Warren P. Knowles, and WI Regent W. D. McIntyre