James E. McLeod

James Earl McLeod (July 29, 1944 – September 6, 2011), 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 (JC) 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 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.

In 1986, McLeod oversaw the creation and acted as director of the John B. Ervin Scholars Program (noted below), 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. He not only established the program, but he served as the first director of the Ervin Scholars Program.

McLeod Scholars Program In 2011, WashU established the McLeod Scholars Program, an undergraduate endowment in honor of McLeod. The selection criteria for McLeod Scholars include academic achievement, commitment to serve others, leadership potential, and character. The selection pool consists of students chosen in the other scholarship programs at WashU. These programs are the Danforth Scholars Program, John B. Ervin Scholars Program, and Annika Rodriguez Scholars Program (all noted above) housed by the Office of Scholars Programs (OSP). A student from each of these programs is selected every year, totaling to three scholars per year.

Other Scholars Programs McLeod also served as the director of the Enterprise Rent-a-Car Scholars Program.

Following his death, the Washington University Center for the Humanities instituted an annual Writing Prize for freshman students, and Gerald Early established the annual James E. McLeod Memorial Lecture on Higher Education, with Walter E. Massey giving the inaugural lecture.

In 2026, it was announced that a new student housing building on the WashU campus would be named after James and Clara McLeod.

In 1995, McLeod also co-authored Interpretationen: Goethes Erzählwerk. (Lernmaterialien) with Paul Michael Lützeler.