SALISBURY — Catawba College Director of Human Resources Larry Farmer will retire effective March 31, and Drew H. Davis of Beaufort, South Carolina, will take over the role June 1.

Farmer, a native of Landis, was director of human resources for 20 years and was the first to serve in that role.

He was recently granted a designation as an honorary life member by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. The association’s national board voted to honor Farmer based on his many years of professional service in the higher education human resources profession.

In 2016, Farmer received the national association’s Award for Distinguished Service to the association and the profession.

A lifelong resident of Rowan County, Farmer is married to Beth Farmer and the two are parents of adult sons Brad and Jonathan. They have two granddaughters, Addison and Zoey.

On June 1, Davis will take up the mantel as director of human resources and legal counsel.

“We welcome Drew to our campus community and look forward to putting his extensive experience and insights to work for the college and all of our faculty, staff and students,” said college President Brien Lewis.

Davis has practiced education law for nearly 18 years — 14 of those in North Carolina. He previously served as general counsel to the Beaufort and Hilton Head, South Carolina, Public School System, a job he has held since August 2014.

His prior employment includes four years as general counsel to the Winston-Salem and Forsyth County Board of Education — one of the 90 largest public school systems in the U.S. with more than 9,000 employees and more than 53,000 students.

Davis is a member of the North Carolina State Bar, North Carolina Bar Association and South Carolina State Bar. He has served on the education committee of both state bars.

He has served as a private education consultant and an adjunct professor teaching graduate-level education law courses at both Salem College in Winston-Salem and North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. Davis is a frequent presenter on education law topics.

Davis is a member of the South Carolina Council of School Attorneys and National Council of School Attorneys and a former member of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys.

An alumnus of Wake Forest University, he earned his bachelor of arts degree in history and communications and his juris doctor from the Wake Forest University School of Law.

Davis will report to Nelson Murphy, executive vice president for finance and operations.