Tom Davis (politician)

Infobox Officeholder
honorific-prefix = Sir
name = Tom Davis
honorific-suffix =


imagesize = 200 px
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caption =
order = 2^nd & 4^th
office = Prime Minister of the Cook Islands
term_start = July 25, 1978
term_end = April 13, 1983
November 16, 1983 - July 29, 1987
vicepresident =
viceprimeminister =
deputy =
lieutenant =
monarch = Elizabeth II
president =
primeminister =
taoiseach =
chancellor =
governor =
governor-general =
governor_general =
succeeding =
predecessor = Albert Henry
Geoffrey Henry
successor = Geoffrey Henry
Pupuke Robati
constituency =
majority =
birth_date = birth date|1917|6|11
birth_place = flagicon|Cook Islands Rarotonga, Cook Islands
death_date = death date and age|2007|7|23|1917|6|11
death_place = flagicon|Cook Islands Rarotonga, Cook Islands
restingplace =
restingplacecoordinates =
birthname = Thomas Robert Alexander Harries Davis
nationality = Cook Islander
party = Democratic
otherparty =
spouse = Pa Terito Ariki
partner =
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = Harvard University
occupation = Physiologist, politician
profession = Medical
net worth =
cabinet =
committees =
portfolio =
religion = Bahá'í


website =
footnotes =

Sir Thomas Robert Alexander Harries (Tom) Davis KBE (June 11 1917 – July 23 2007 [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Sir Tom Davis dies aged 90 | date=Jul 24, 2007 | publisher= | url =http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/1252511 | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2008-09-28 | language = ] ) was a Prime Minister of the Cook Islands and a medical researcher.

Early life and education

Davis was born on the island of Rarotonga, his full name being Thomas Robert Alexander Harries Davis. He was the first Cook Islands medical graduate in New Zealand, finishing his studies at Otago in 1945. He then served as Medical Officer in the Cook Islands working to improve the country's health system.

In 1952, he went to Harvard University, initially completing a Master of Public Health, before joining their Department of Nutrition. Subsequently, he worked for various parts of the armed forces as a research physiologist, before joining NASA to work on the space program.

Political career

Sir Tom was a founder of the Cook Islands Democratic Party in 1971, and became opposition leader in 1972, going on to serve as Prime Minister from July 25, 1978 until April 13, 1983, and following the short first tenure of Geoffrey Henry, again from November 16, 1983 until July 29 1987, when he left office while the Democratic Party was still in power.

On 3 Aug 1986 [cite web
last = Thomas Pawlowski
first = J.
title = A Brief History of the Baha'i Faith
work = Unpublished academic articles and papers
publisher = Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Boise
date = 1996-11-25
url = http://bahai-library.com/unpubl.articles/history.html
accessdate = 3008-06-15] Davis became the first head of government to formally consult with the Universal House of Justice.

He later went on to serve as High Commissioner to New Zealand.

Personal life

Davis married Pa Terito Ariki who had become a Bahá'í in the 1950s, sometime after 1986, Davis joined the Bahá'í Faith.cite journal | last = Hassall
first = Graham
title = Baha'i Faith in the Asia Pacific - Issues and Prospects
journal = Bahá'í Studies Review
volume = Volume 6
publisher = Association for Baha'i Studies (English-Speaking Europe)
year = 1996
url = http://www.breacais.demon.co.uk/abs/bsr06/61_hassall_pacific.htm
accessdate = 2008-06-15]

Honours

Davis was knighted in 1981. The University of Otago awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 2005. ["Honorary doctorate for former Cook Islands PM", University of Otago Bulletin, Issue 10, (20 May 2005)]

ee also

*Politics of the Cook Islands

References