Darrell L. Davis
Laboratory Director
Drug Enforcement Administration, South Central Laboratory

Darrell Davis is the first African American to hold the position of laboratory director at the Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA's laboratory system is recognized world-wide as the premier forensic drug laboratory. After graduating from Prairie View A&M University with a B.Sc. in chemistry, Davis began his professional career in 1979, joining the DEA's Southwest Laboratory in San Diego as a forensic chemist. He was promoted to senior forensic chemist of the South Central Laboratory in Dallas, in 1988. From there, he was promoted to supervisory chemist at the Northeast Laboratory in New York City and later served as a program manager at the Office of Forensic Sciences in Arlington, Va., before accepting his current job.