Alumni Ambassador Award

Michael Davis ’84

Michael Davis is a Kentucky entrepreneur with a passion for improving the Louisville community through nonprofit work and by helping other entrepreneurs build their future.

Davis earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Louisville College of Business in 1984. In 1995, he co-founded Appriss, which would later become Kentucky's first tech unicorn. The company launched the nation's first automated victim notification program, VINE, in response to the 1993 murder of 21-year-old Mary Byron. Appriss went on to become a data company focusing on public safety, retail fraud and healthcare.

In 2000, Davis partnered with Mary Byron's parents to launch the Mary Byron Project, a 501(c) nonprofit dedicated to pursuing unique solutions to domestic violence. In 2026, the Mary Byron Project joined with UofL's Brandeis School of Law to launch the Mary Byron Endowed Chair and the Mary Byron Center, continuing its mission of innovation on this national issue.

Over his career, Davis was a two-time winner of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award and received the Congressional Crime Victims award for service to victims of crime. In 2019, he was inducted into the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. He continues to advise entrepreneurs across Kentucky and the country.

Davis lives in Mt. Washington with his wife of 40 years, childhood sweetheart and fellow University of Louisville graduate, Kathy Davis '90. Together they run their farm like a petting zoo for their five grandchildren.

Main changes: fixed "Appriss become" to "became," clarified the tangled final sentence, smoothed a couple of repetitive phrases, and tightened wording here and there. Let me know if you'd like it punchier or more formal in tone.