Richard A. Davis was born April 15, 1923 in Binghampton, NY. His parents were Byron and L. Marguerite (Aurand) Davis of Flint, MI. Davis received his A.B. degree from Albion College in 1945, an M.F.A. from the State University of Iowa in 1950, and an M.L.S. from the University of Michigan in 1960. He served in the United States Army during World War II, in France, laying cable for communications in an artillery unit. He was awarded a "Soldiers Medal" for saving a fellow soldier from electrocution.

Between 1953 and 1967, Davis worked as the chief of Buisiness and Technology in the Saginaw Public Library, Director of the Saginaw Museum, Curator of Art at Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, and head of the Fine Arts Department of the Cleveland Public Library from 1962-1967.

In addition to his careers as a librarian and art curator, Davis maintained a steady printmaking hobby.

Davis joined the Butler staff as associate librarian in 1967, then succeeded Harold L. Boisen as the University Librarian in 1968. After his retirement from Butler in 1984, he began a third career as in independent manuscript and print dealer. Davis died July 10, 2006 in Seattle WA.