James E. McLeod
James Earl McLeod, also known as Jim McLeod, was a scholar of Germanic studies and administrator at Washington University in St. Louis. He served as assistant dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, chair of the African American Studies department, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, and Vice Chancellor for students. He also founded and directed the John B. Ervin Scholars Program.
Early life and education
McLeod was second oldest of five siblings to James Clarence and H. Earline Jackson McLeod. Born and raised in Dothan, Alabama, McLeod attended Carver High School in the Dothan City School System. At age 16, McLeod enrolled at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. During his time at Morehouse, he studied at the institute of European Studies at the University of Vienna. Upon his return to the United States, McLeod graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in German and Chemistry. McLeod continued his post graduate studies as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Rice University in Houston, Texas. His graduate work consisted primarily of information on turn-of-the-century Vienna and post-war Germany.Career
McLeod began his teaching career as an assistant professor of German at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. After his time at Indiana University, McLeod began teaching at Washington University in St. Louis in the German department in 1974. During his time at Washington University in St. Louis, he served as Assistant to Chancellor William H. Danforth from 1977 to 1987 before serving as the director of the school's African and Afro-American Studies Program from 1987 to 1992. Following that position, he was appointed as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 1992 before being appointed as Vice Chancellor for Students in 1995. He also assisted in launching the university's Black Alumni Council and guided the university in joining the network of schools that participate in the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship.In 1986, McLeod oversaw the creation and acted as director of the John B. Ervin Scholars Program, which was originally named the John B. Ervin Scholars Program for Black Americans.
In addition to his work at Washington University in St. Louis, McLeod also sat on the board of trustees of the St. Louis Art Museum, American Youth Foundation, National Council on Youth Leadership, Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School, and Churchill Center & School for Learning Disabilities.
Scholars Programs
John B. Ervin Scholars Program
McLeod is credited for establishing the John B. Ervin Scholars Program in 1987, which was originally established to focus on the recruitment and retention of African-American students at WashU by offering a merit-based full tuition scholarship to African-American students with exceptional academic performance. He not only established the program, but he served as the first director of the Ervin Scholars Program.Additionally, the other signature scholars programs, the Annika Rodriguez Scholars Program and the Danforth Scholars Program, at Washington University in St. Louis—as well as other programs across the country—have drawn on the successes and developments of the Ervin Scholars Program.