Earlier this week, Yuba Community College alum Dr. Marlin “Skip” Davies was recognized by the Community College League of California as one of its 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award Honorees.

Davies was recognized during The League’s Annual Convention, held on Nov. 22 in Burlingame, along with Mike Madrid of Moorpark College and Mike McGuire of Santa Rosa Junior College.

“On behalf of the Community College League of California, I am immensely proud to celebrate the 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award honorees,” Community College League of California President and CEO Larry Galizio stated. “Their achievements exemplify the transformative power of California’s community colleges and reflect the profound impact our community colleges have on individual lives and our society as a whole.”

“I am very pleased and surprised with this recognition,” Davies stated. “From a young age, my parents instilled in me the importance of going to college, and Yuba College was a great option for me.”

Davies attended Yuba College from 1958-60, during which time he played on the Golden Valley Yuba College football championship team. Later he would go to UC Davis, where he gained all-star status in the 1961-62 football seasons. He became a career educator whose impact cannot be overstated. Davies’ 40-year career in education included service with the Woodland Joint Unified School District and the Los Rios Community College District, Folsom Lake College, Woodland Community College and as interim vice-chancellor of the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

Davies’ accomplishments and recognition include:

2024 City of Woodland Park named in his honor

2024 Concilio of Yolo County recognition, service to Latino Community

City of Woodland Community Service Award 1996

1990 founder of the Golden Valley Conference

Elected to the Woodland City Council from 2006 — 2016, served as City of Woodland Mayor in 2008, 2014 and 2016

A central figure in Woodland Joint Unified School Distirct’s bond passage of $265 million

Yuba College Hall of Fame 2012

Cosumnes River College Hall of Fame 2008, as former Athletic Dean

Yolo County Champions Award for Service 2022

Woodland Athletic Hall of Fame 1992

In 2023, Davies was one of the first five nominees for the Woodland Daily Democrat’s “Yolo County Hero” of the year.

“It was exciting to be nominated by a good friend of mine,” Davies said in September 2023 about his nomination. “I thought it was honorable for one of your friends to do that. I have always been in favor of what the newspaper here has done, so it sounded like a nice opportunity to talk about what we have accomplished over the years.”

Davies embarked on a nearly 40-year career in education when he first started teaching in Woodland in 1964. He became a permanent teacher in 1968 before earning a master’s at Sacramento State and a doctorate from Utah State University the following two years.

After earning his doctorate, he received a call from the Woodland Joint Unified School District superintendent at the time offering him the job of assistant principal at Douglass Middle School, a role he called “the hardest job I have ever had.” By 1972, he was principal.

He and his wife Julie bought a house in Woodland, where they have remained ever since.

The honorees were selected by League Board of Directors member Dr. Roger Schultz, California Community College Trustee Board President Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg and California Community Colleges Classified Senate president Deborah Knowles.