rdavis@coloradomesa.edu
Ron Davis had a successful business career and for the past 16 years has focused his time in the not for profit area with an emphasis on serving first generation youth, health care and mental health initiatives in the Vail Valley.
Ron earned both his associate and bachelor’s degrees in four years while working full time. He then earned his MBA from the University of South California at night through a tuition reimbursement program while employed at General Foods. He worked in marketing at General Foods from 1969-1979 and helped create and launch Country Time Lemonade.
In 1979, Ron founded and helped build the largest bottled water company in America — the Perrier Group of America, which included the brands: Perrier, Arrowhead, Poland Springs, Zephyr Hills, Deer Park, Ozarka, San Pellegrino and Great Bear. Eventually the Perrier Group of America sold to Nestle in 1994.
After 15 years of building the Perrier Group of America, Ron moved to private equity. In this business adventure he worked with Davis Capital, Celestial Seasonings, Continental Container Corp., Franchise Acceptance Corporations, Staff Leasing and Greenwich Technology.
Ron also served as the Vail Valley Medical Center chairman from 2004-2014.
As a first-generation college student who had lived on his own since his senior year of high school, Ron founded Guardian Scholars at California State University Fullerton (CSUF) in 1998 to serve foster youth. The Guardian Scholars program is a comprehensive student empowerment model, which identifies ambitious, capable high school students who are challenged to afford a college education. Guardian Scholars offers significant financial leverage to enable students to earn an undergraduate college degree. Having graduated more than 300 students at CSUF, the Guardian Scholars program expanded to more than 70 colleges and universities including Colorado Mesa University. Since 2005, more than 80 Vail Valley students have graduated or are enrolled at CMU with full ride scholarships and no student loans.
In addition to serving as a trustee, Ron Davis contributed one of the largest single donor investments in CMU history founding the Davis School of Business. In addition to scholarships, the contribution integrates My Future Pathways -a program created and funded by Davis to provide access to education for youth and first-generation college students.
