Steven Andrew Davis – 50th Reunion Essay

Steven Andrew Davis

178 Country Lane

San Antonio, TX 78209

drstevedavis@gmail.com

210-887-3311

Spouse(s): Jolene Bryant Davis (40 years as of 2018)

Child(ren): Bryant Davis (1981); Suzanne Davis, MD (1983)

Education: Yale ‘69, BA, Economics; University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, MD, 1973; Internship in Medicine, University of New Mexico Hospitals, 73-74; Residency in Dermatology, University of California San Francisco Medical Center, 74-77

Career: Dermatologist, 40 years; CBS Radio Broadcaster, 34 years; Co-founded StemBioSys, Inc, 2012; Trustee San Antonio Medical Foundation-4 years; BioMedSA Executive Board-8 years; Clinical Professor UTHealth SA since 1983

Avocations: Travel with wife and kids; rare map collecting; Democratic party politics; golf; fly-fishing

College: Branford

As a public school boy from San Antonio my first impression at Yale was how well-spoken my classmates were. My Yale classmates were smart and variously quirky, entertaining, disciplined, conflicted, eclectic, and came from everywhere: India, Costa Rica, Baltimore, and Exeter. Lots of new things—New England clam chowder, snowballs, all-night bull sessions, Beatles songs, and turmoil over Vietnam.

I worried I might flunk physics and get drafted, majored in economics, and took the minimum required courses for med school. Thanks, in no small part, to my Yale pedigree, I got into a terrific medical school in Dallas, had a great roommate my first year there in Calvin Hill and managed to get my grades back up when the Cowboys’ season was over. I decided to become a dermatologist on a 3 a.m. trudge through the bowels of Parkland Hospital to write a pain order. (Funny, one of my recurring dreams to this day is getting lost in the Branford College basement maze.)

For residency training I got into the UCSF Medical Center dermatology program. San Francisco in the mid-70s was amazing—more music making, meeting and marrying Jolene (OK, OK, yes I know I married up), starting my 34-year subcareer in broadcast and print (CBS Radio, ABC-TV, Hearst Features Syndicate, some awards, etc.) and 6 years on the UCSF faculty.

Even though I didn’t make the cut at Yale’s WYBC radio (heartbreaking for me then) I had a great broadcast run. My “Speaking of Health” CBS network features let my Yale friends know I was alive and vocal, kept me current in medicine generally and had juicy perks like free seats behind the plate to see both the Giants and A’s lose lots of games.

Our son, Bryant, was born in 1981 and we returned to be with family in San Antonio in ’83 just before our daughter, Suzanne, was born. My professional/business life has been fun, varied, occasionally tense. A stint on a local city council; private derm/laser/clinical research practice; started Branford Publishing with a fabulous Yale classmate; civic committees; and now working with a biotech company I cofounded. StemBioSys (stembiosys.com) is a UT Health SA spin-off with innovative technology to capture and culture stem cells for future therapeutic use. I’m proud that SBS is run by true professionals—hope it makes a difference in people’s lives and money for my friends-and-family investors.

Yale helped me succeed and to see my limitations. In life after Yale I’ve been fortunate, with an unbelievably kind, smart and lovely wife; a son who can speak six languages and develops software for farmers in emerging markets; a daughter doing a medicine residency, a team leader devoted to patient care; and a healthy mom, now 91 and recently married! My most cherished times are the many “cultural-tourist” trips we continue to take with our kids.

Thank you, Yale, for my giving me such remarkable and enduring friends.