Andy Davis received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in Accounting from Mercer University's Stetson School of Business and Economics (Mercer Business) in 1983. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant. Currently, Davis is the Chief Financial and Information Systems Officer for the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation. Davis accepted this position in 2003, and as part of an experienced executive team, has accomplished a successful start-up of the Tennessee lottery operations. Davis is responsible for planning, organizing and directing the corporation's financial activities. These include:

• General accounting and reporting
• Retailer accounts receivables
• Product accounting, budgeting and financial planning
• Treasury management
• Purchasing activities

Additionally, Davis is responsible for planning and directing the corporation's information systems activities, including:

• Operational oversight of the online gaming system operations
• Electronic drawing systems and operations
• In-house data processing
• Local and wide-area networking and telecommunications
• Software planning and testing

Davis's professional experience spans 27 years in the auditing, accounting and information systems areas. He has more than 17 years of lottery experience, serving more than seven years with the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation, and 10 years with the Georgia Lottery Corporation. During his tenure in the Georgia Lottery Corporation, he served in varying senior management capacities, including:

• Senior Vice President of Finance and Information Systems
• Senior Vice President of Operations/Management Information Systems
• Vice President of Finance
• Vice President of Internal Controls

Q. How did you choose your career field?

Andy Davis: During my primary and secondary education years, I enjoyed math and science the most. Selected to participate in a college-level introductory accounting course in high school, I discovered my love for math could be applied in the field of accounting.  

Q. What course at Mercer Business was the most influential in helping define your career interests?

Andy Davis: My accounting courses were very influential, and I thank the Mercer Business Dean at that time, along with one of my professors, for convincing me that I didn't want to be a Tax Accountant.

However, I also benefited greatly from the computer science courses I took as a part of my course curriculum. It provided me an opportunity to be part of the early adoption of personal computers into the workplace in the late '80s/early '90s, which opened additional career opportunities. The impact is evidenced by my current dual senior executive positions as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Information Systems Officer (CISO).

Q. What has been your career path?

Andy Davis: A paid internship with a local Certified Public Accounting firm, Jones and Wheeler, CPA's in Macon, Ga started my accounting-related professional path. During that experience, I was able to place theory learned in my accounting classes at Mercer Business into real scenarios within a professional practice.

Following graduation from Mercer Business, I became an Internal Auditor with the State of Georgia's Human Resources Department, where I audited city and county programs funded through the department. During this tenure, I received several promotions, eventually becoming an Audit Manager, responsible for compliance reviews of audits performed by CPAs of other non-profit organizations receiving funding from the department.

“I truly enjoyed my college years (1979-1983) at Mercer University’s Macon campus.  It was a rewarding personal and fraternal experience that will always be cherished and held with fondest memories.”
Andy Davis

In 1992, I was selected as the Director of Internal Audits at the Atlanta Housing Authority, with the responsibility to re-establish a dormant function within the organization, including establishing corporate-wide internal controls policies and procedures, performing risk assessments, and hiring resources to perform audits as part of the approved audit plan.

In 1994, I was selected as the Vice President of Internal Controls for the Georgia Lottery Corporation, a newly-established public non-profit corporation, whose sole purpose is to generate funds to be used for education programs in the State of Georgia, primarily Hope Scholarships for college education assistance. During the almost 10-year tenure with the organization, I was promoted to several corporate officer positions with increasing responsibilities, including Vice President of Finance, Senior Vice President for Operations, Senior Vice President for Information Systems, and Chief Financial and Information Systems Officer.

In October 2003, I was recruited to help with the start-up operations of the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation as the Chief Financial and Information Systems Officer. This corporation was established with goals similar to those of the Georgia Lottery Corporation, primarily to generate funds for college education assistance to qualified high school graduates.

Q. What personal qualities or abilities are important to being successful in your profession?

Andy Davis: The level of education provided by Mercer Business professors, along with the ability to transfer theoretical knowledge to practical applications has contributed most significantly to my success. Further contribution is successfully obtaining professional-level certification as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

I am a consensus-builder, and this quality has helped me succeed within the organizations I have worked. Being able to work with persons of varying skills and abilities is a key personal quality in being able to accomplish goals.

Q. What special advice do you offer Mercer Business students?

Andy Davis: Mercer Business provides a solid educational foundation complete with discipline-specific technical skills. However, in today's competitive job environment, the "soft" skills are equally important. These include the ability to work as a team and communicate effectively. My recommendation to Mercer Business students is to seek out a professional mentor in your field of study. Seek advice from your mentor and learn how to best move forward with your career path.

Q. What is the most memorable part of your Mercer experience?

Andy Davis: The level of personal experiences provided by the University and its professors is the most memorable aspect of my Mercer experience. Class sizes were small, which facilitated personal attention from my professors. And, the campus was small enough that I easily established relationships with other students and within campus organizations, such as my fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha.