Each year, the Office of Scholar Programs names a McLeod Scholar from each of the three signature scholars programs, the Danforth, Ervin and Rodriguez Scholars Programs.
This designation as a McLeod Scholar is in addition to their designation as a Danforth, Ervin or Rodriguez Scholar. The first McLeod Scholars were selected in 2010 in honor of Dean James E. McLeod, who served as Vice Chancellor for Students and Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. Scholars are selected for their humility, intellectual curiosity and their commitment to serving others, all qualities of the late Dean McLeod.
Dean James E. McLeod
Dean McLeod was born and raised in 1944 in Dothan, Alabama. His family’s emphasis on education spurred him to study Chemistry and German at Morehouse College. He received his degree in 1966 and pursued a graduate degree in German at Rice University, where he was a National Defense Education Act Fellow and Woodrow Wilson Fellow. After teaching at Indiana University in Bloomington, Dean McLeod and his wife, Clara, who serves as the Earth & Planetary Sciences librarian, joined our community in 1974. For more than 35 years, Dean McLeod’s impact on WashU and its undergraduate students was extraordinary. Over the years, he served in many roles, including Assistant Professor of German, Special Assistant to the Chancellor, Director of African and Afro-American Studies, and Director of the John B. Ervin Scholars Program. He was appointed dean of the College of Arts & Sciences in May of 1992 and vice chancellor for students in 1995. In 1987, Dean McLeod was named the founding director of the John B. Ervin Scholars Program, a position he held until his death in September 2011.