Richard Beale Davis joined the faculty of the university’s Department of English in 1948. From 1961 to 1974, he served as director of graduate studies in English. He was appointed Alumni Distinguished Service Professor in 1962, serving in this capacity until he retired in 1977. In 1976 he was named Chancellor’s Research Scholar. Dr. Davis, author or editor of 20 books and numerous learned articles, was one of the preeminent scholars of American literature. His Intellectual Life in Jefferson’s Virginia (1964) won the first annual prize of the American Association for State and University History, and his Intellectual Life in the Colonial South (3 vols., 1977) won the National Book Award in 1979. He held Guggenheim Fellowships in 1947–48 and 1960–61, a Senior Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1974–75, and a Residential Fellowship from the National Center for the Humanities in 1979–80. In 1955 Randolph-Macon College awarded him the honorary Doctor of Laws.
The Early American Literature Division of the Modern Language Association named him Distinguished Scholar of Early American Literature in 1977—only the third time in 10 years that the award had been given. In 1965 he served as the first president of the UT Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. His contributions to the intellectual life of the university have been recognized by the placement of a plaque in his honor on a faculty study.