Mike Davis was recently promoted to GIS Manager in ACOG's 9-1-1 Division. Davis's career began after high school during which he took drafting classes at a local vocational technical school. Following graduation, he went to work with an engineering group in Lawton drafting plats from survey notes. After that, he went to work for Halliburton in an unrelated field that changed in the late 1980s. That shift put him on a career path in law enforcement. 

For 11 years, Davis worked as a police officer in Marlow, Oklahoma, and later served the city as a dispatcher for Emergency Management. During this time, he worked with ArcGIS Desktop and discovered that his early studies in drafting gave him an understanding of Geographic Information Systems. "I knew I could still make a difference by working with data to create correct maps for dispatchers," Davis said. 

Eventually, Mike went to work as a GIS Specialist for the Southwestern Oklahoma Development Authority in Burns Flat. At SWODA, he was able to advance his education and skills in the GIS field. Later, he had an opportunity to transfer all his experience to ACOG. 

"I knew the competition for the GIS Manager position would be great," Davis said. "I could only hope and pray that my background and skills learned would be enough. It took me a long time before some of the things I learned in high school came back around and made sense. With that, all I can say is never give up and continue learning." 

Congratulations, Mike!