Janine Davidson

Janine Davidson, Ph.D., has served as president of the Metropolitan State University of Denver since 2017. She is a national thought leader in higher education and on topics such as public service, U.S. foreign policy, and national security.

As president of Colorado’s third-largest public university, Davidson is a fierce advocate for MSU Denver’s 17,500 students. From her first days on campus, she has championed the role public universities play in “holding the line on the American dream.” She has staunchly supported the DREAM Act and MSU Denver’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals students, as well as its minoritized students and military and veteran students.

She has taught at George Mason University, Georgetown University, Davidson College, and various professional military schools, and was an aviation and aerobatics flight instructor at the U.S. Air Force Academy. She recently returned to the classroom at MSU Denver, co-teaching a course on the philosophical and legal origins of freedom of speech in the United States.