Historical December 1993 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Jim McLeod, a resident on 61xx McPherson, has lived in the Skinker DeBaliviere neighborhood for 16 years and is a past president of the Council.
He is also an educator of note, a professor of German, and in July 1992 became the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington University.
In this challenging position, he is responsible for the undergraduate programs for liberal arts, advising, study abroad, and the pre-med and pre-law programs.
There are 3,000 students in the college and McLeod said that “is the first call on our time here.” For these undergraduates, their years at Washington U. are “their chance.” It is the beginning of a different phase of their live and affects how they will conduct their lives in the future.
It is more than just getting a degree. McLeod spends a great deal of his time meeting with lots of students and in meetings period.
He said that he used to criticize all the meetings in the university but now realizes “it’s the only way you come together.” It enables him to get things done across different administrative areas. He’s grateful for his colleagues in the College; they are very experienced.
He still teaches although he is taking this semester off to address certain administrative projects. And, he finds time to continue working on two research projects. McLeod noted that most students in the College come from outside the St. Louis area although a significant number are from St. Louis. Students actually are from all over the world. “It’s a particular challenge when you have a meeting with students from University City, Provo, Utah, and Kuala Lumpur.” He finds it exciting to bring people from disparate backgrounds together and achieve something.
It makes teaching quite exciting. McLeod spoke further about the process of college education.
He remarked that the “fabric supporting young people in our society is very different” from when he and I went to school.
He feels the need to work closely with young people to help them develop intellectually and personally. “Learning is not just I’ll tell you what it is and you verify it.” That is not learning.
It is having 18- year-olds come into a community which is about learning and how you have them connect with that process and find their place in it. McLeod feels you need to get them excited about things that did not exist in their concept a few months ago. College students need to question things they’ve always believed.
They might acquire a new taste for music or for a different culture that you have exposed them to for the first time. And, this has to be done in the midst of the general hurry and distraction.
It makes an educator wonder what knowledge is important to obtain and retain? What readings should be assigned? What should be required? McLeod also had some advice for youth soon to go on to college.
He said that you can get a good education at a lot of places.
When deciding where to go, he feels it is important to consider both the academic and the personal. They’re deeply intertwined.
A prospective student absolutely must visit the campuses in which he or she is interested.
It should feel right.
It is a deeply personal choice. “When you find your match, make the most of it. Use those years in college–the most beautiful years in life in some ways.” This opportunity will not come again with the same idealism or intensity. “It is a beautiful thing in our society when young people leave home to go to a learning community.” He suggested that young people go away to college if they can. McLeod himself is a product of Morehouse College and did his graduate work at the University of Vienna and Rice University.
His first job was at Indiana University and he came to Washington U. from there.
He spoke highly of Washington University because of the respect and the appreciation people there have for individual differences. “No one asks Jim McLeod to be like another dean or like another professor.” People there leave you alone and let you be.
He and his family like living in Skinker DeBaliviere for the same reason. “People don’t require you to be what you’re not; I can be what I am.” It’s also 7 minutes on a slow morning from bed to desk. McLeod also likes the ambience of the neighborhood and loves the people and he just likes how our streets look.
Original photograph caption
James McLeod. Photo courtesy Washington University.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, December 1993.
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Original source: SD_Times1993_12.pdf, printed page(s) 1; PDF page(s) 1.
