26_jacksonian_cover story
Robert Walker
“I have the good fortune to come in when Jackson State is on the move,” says Interim President Leslie Burl McLemore. “We’re on the rise.” A JSU professor for nearly 40 years, McLemore, 70, came out of semi-retirement over the summer to take the helm of Mississippi’s “urban university.” The former Jackson city councilman set to work immediately on what he describes as “building up on the legacy of people who have come before me.” One of his first orders of business was assembling a team of top administrators – all Jackson State alums – who share his passion for the university. “All of us love this place and are in awe of the folks we have to work with,” says McLemore’s senior adviser Robert Walker, who is the former mayor of Vicksburg, Miss. “We couldn’t have asked for anything better.” Walker, who taught history at Jackson State in the 1970s and was the City of Jackson’s chief administrative officer when McLemore served on the city council, says he’s thrilled
about joining JSU’s administration during a boom time for Jackson. In just the past few years, downtown development has been spreading toward campus with the construction of the Jackson Convention Complex, the reopening of the historic King Edward hotel, the renovation of the Standard Life building and the completion of Metro Parkway, which connects Jackson State to downtown Jackson. Other projects underway include the revitalization of Farish Street and the next phase of University Place of Jackson – a 50-acre residential and commercial development that will transform the community between campus and downtown Jackson. “Both Dr. McLemore and I were part of much of the development that’s taking place right now,” Walker says. “Jackson State is so critical in furthering the progress of this city.” Along with development on- and off-campus, Jackson State is increasingly recognized as the region’s intellectual hub. With 37 master’s, four specialist and 11 Ph.D. programs, the
One University Place opened at the intersection of Dalton Street and John R. Lynch Street in September 2010. The building houses luxury apartments and retail space and is the first phase of University Place of Jackson. The 50-acre residential and commercial development is expected to transform the community between campus and downtown Jackson.