George T. Walker
Encyclopedia
George Thomas Walker, Sr. (March 2, 1913 – June 17, 2011), was from 1958 to 1976 the president of the University of Louisiana at Monroe
, known first as Northeast Louisiana State College and then as Northeast Louisiana State University, located in Monroe
in northeastern Louisiana
.
near the Winn Parish
line in north Louisiana, the second youngest of nine sons and two daughters of William Thomas Walker and the former Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie" Stovall (1877–1951). At the time of his mother's death in 1951, the obituary lists George Walker as a dean at Northwestern State University
in Natchitoches
and his youngest brother, William Stewart Walker
as a lieutenant colonel
in Vienna, Austria
. Another brother, Edgar Lee "Ed" Walker (1901–1972), was a football
coach at the University of Mississippi
at Oxford
, who led his team to an early Orange Bowl
competition.
A Walker cousin, Morgan W. Walker, Sr.
, was an Alexandria
businessman who was president and founder of Continental Trailways bus lines.
In 1935, Walker received his Bachelor of Science
degree from NSU, then known as Northwestern State College. In 1936, he earned a master's degree in accounting at Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge
. He then began his teaching career in Monroe at the then Northeast Junior College. Thereafter, he was a member of the faculty of Southeastern Louisiana University
in Hammond
and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
in Lafayette
. From 1941 to 1943, he was the state supervisor of business education. From 1943 to 1945, he was personnel director for the Port of Embarkation in New Orleans
.
from LSU in business administration and accounting, with a minor field in economics. At the time, he was also the assistant to the dean of the LSU Junior Division. After completion of his doctoral studies, Walker became dean of applied arts and sciences at NSU, thereafter adding to those duties from 1954 to 1958 the position of NSU dean of administration.
On July 1, 1958, Walker began his service as only the fourth president of ULM. Under Walker, the university grew in enrollment, physical plant, and academic standing. The enrollment increased from barely 2,000 in the late 1950s to more than 9,000 by the middle 1970s. He worked to increase the quality and the compensation of the faculty. Under Walker ULM added more than a dozen academic buildings and residence halls to the campus.These structures included Garrett, Hanna, Sugar, and Strauss hlls, Schulze Dining Hall, the Business Administration Building, the Band Building, Sandel Library, Fant-Ewing Coliseum
, Heard Tennis Stadium, Brown Stadium, Malone Stadium
(opened 1978), the Anna Gray Noe Alumni Center (named for the wife of former Governor James A. Noe
), the Lake C. Oxford Natatorium (completed in 1978), and several residence halls.
The then NLU became the largest university in North Louisiana in terms of both enrollment and state appropriations. Among the universities under the Louisiana Higher Education Board of Trustees, NLU had the greatest percent of faculty holding terminal degrees and more nationally accredited academic programs.
In 1961, under Walker's leadership ULM offered its first doctoral degree, the Ph.D. in pharmacy. The Ed.D. (since renamed Ph.D.) in education followed in 1967.
In addition to academic growth under his leadership, numerous support groups came to fruition: the Northeast Louisiana Concerts Association, NLU Foundation, NLU Athletic Scholarship Foundation, and the Northeast Louisiana Land Corporation. The land corporation was created in 1965 with local business leaders with the goal of procuring land for university expansion.
Walker's tenure at Louisiana Tech corresponded in part with that of F. Jay Taylor
, the president from 1962 to 1987 of nearby Louisiana Tech University
in Ruston
. Under Taylor's tenure, Louisiana Tech grew in similar fashion to that of ULM under Walker. Taylor died a month before the passing of Walker. The tenures of Walker and Taylor also corresponded to that of Arnold R. Kilpatrick
, president of Northwestern State University from 1966 to 1978. During this same period Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones
was president of historically black Grambling State University
in Grambling
.
football games and other university events.
Walker authored numerous academic and professional journal articles as well as several books on accounting and business education. Of his five copyrighted books, two were written during his retirement, The Building of a University (1991), which examines the early years of ULM, and the biographical Emy-Lou Biedenharn: Her Life and Legacy (1999).Emy-Lou Biedenharn was a world-renowned contralto from Monroe and the daughter of Joe Biedenharn, the first bottler of Coca-Cola
.
In 1938, Walker married the former Mary Ellen Neal (1911–2002), his college sweetheart. They had a son, George T. Walker, Jr., of Monroe and a daughter, Ellen Claire Stephenson of Lancaster
, Pennsylvania
. Walker died of a lengthy illness at the age of ninety=eight. In addition to his children, Walker was survived by five grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.
In 1997, the Louisiana Board of Regents awarded Walker its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for his ongoing dedication to higher education. He is also honored by the Mary Ellen and George Thomas Walker Scholarship Endowment through ULM.
A memorial service was held on July 9, 2011, at the First Presbyterian Church of Monroe, where Walker was an elder.His hometown newspaper, the Monroe News Star
, paid tribute to Walker on theday before his memorial service:
"His legacy is both complex and far-reaching. While most associate him with the physical university here, in truth his greatest influence is to be found within the countless lives that were changed by his example. His abiding concern for the welfare of others, his courage in action, his quiet support when friends and colleagues needed it most, his
belief in the empowerment that comes through education, his charity of spirit — these will live on through the actions of those who knew him."
University of Louisiana at Monroe
The University of Louisiana at Monroe is a coeducational public university in Monroe, Louisiana and part of the University of Louisiana System.-History:...
, known first as Northeast Louisiana State College and then as Northeast Louisiana State University, located in Monroe
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...
in northeastern Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
.
Background
Walker was born in the Wyatt Community of Jackson ParishJackson Parish, Louisiana
Jackson Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish was formed in 1845 from parts of Claiborne, Ouachita, and Union Parishes. In 2010, its population was 16,274. The parish seat is Jonesboro...
near the Winn Parish
Winn Parish, Louisiana
Winn Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its seat is Winnfield. In 2000, its population was 16,894.The parish has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
line in north Louisiana, the second youngest of nine sons and two daughters of William Thomas Walker and the former Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie" Stovall (1877–1951). At the time of his mother's death in 1951, the obituary lists George Walker as a dean at Northwestern State University
Northwestern State University
Northwestern State University, known as NSU, is a four-year public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the University of Louisiana System.NSU was founded in 1884 as...
in Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
and his youngest brother, William Stewart Walker
William Stewart Walker
William Stewart Walker, usually known as Stewart Walker , was a lieutenant colonel from Winnfield, Louisiana who, during World War II as a United States Army major, rescued 380 of his fellow soldiers from behind enemy lines in Belgium in December 1944...
as a lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
in Vienna, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. Another brother, Edgar Lee "Ed" Walker (1901–1972), was a football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
coach at the University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
at Oxford
Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford is a city in, and the county seat of, Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1835, it was named after the British university city of Oxford in hopes of having the state university located there, which it did successfully attract....
, who led his team to an early Orange Bowl
Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935 and celebrated its 75th playing on January 1, 2009...
competition.
A Walker cousin, Morgan W. Walker, Sr.
Morgan W. Walker, Sr.
Morgan Wailes Walker, Sr. was a businessman from Alexandria, Louisiana, who was involved in dairying, farming, bus transportation, hotels, banking, and education. He was a director of the Trans-Continental Bus system, which operated in time in more than forty states. Walker introduced Guernsey...
, was an Alexandria
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
businessman who was president and founder of Continental Trailways bus lines.
In 1935, Walker received his Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree from NSU, then known as Northwestern State College. In 1936, he earned a master's degree in accounting at Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
. He then began his teaching career in Monroe at the then Northeast Junior College. Thereafter, he was a member of the faculty of Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university in Hammond, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims, the principal of Hammond High School, as Hammond Junior College, located in a wing of the high school building. Sims succeeded in getting the campus...
in Hammond
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...
and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or UL Lafayette, is a coeducational, public research university located in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the heart of Acadiana...
in Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
. From 1941 to 1943, he was the state supervisor of business education. From 1943 to 1945, he was personnel director for the Port of Embarkation in New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
.
Academic career
After World War II, Walker earned his Ph.D.Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from LSU in business administration and accounting, with a minor field in economics. At the time, he was also the assistant to the dean of the LSU Junior Division. After completion of his doctoral studies, Walker became dean of applied arts and sciences at NSU, thereafter adding to those duties from 1954 to 1958 the position of NSU dean of administration.
On July 1, 1958, Walker began his service as only the fourth president of ULM. Under Walker, the university grew in enrollment, physical plant, and academic standing. The enrollment increased from barely 2,000 in the late 1950s to more than 9,000 by the middle 1970s. He worked to increase the quality and the compensation of the faculty. Under Walker ULM added more than a dozen academic buildings and residence halls to the campus.These structures included Garrett, Hanna, Sugar, and Strauss hlls, Schulze Dining Hall, the Business Administration Building, the Band Building, Sandel Library, Fant-Ewing Coliseum
Fant-Ewing Coliseum
Fant-Ewing Coliseum is a 7,085-seat multi-purpose arena in Monroe, Louisiana and was built in 1971. It is home to the University of Louisiana at Monroe Warhawks basketball team...
, Heard Tennis Stadium, Brown Stadium, Malone Stadium
Malone Stadium
Malone Stadium is a stadium in Monroe, Louisiana. It is primarily used for football, and is the home field of the University of Louisiana at Monroe Warhawks. A record crowd of 30,101 was reached on Nov. 20, 2007 against Grambling State....
(opened 1978), the Anna Gray Noe Alumni Center (named for the wife of former Governor James A. Noe
James A. Noe
James Albert Noe, Sr. of Monroe served for three and a half months as the 43rd Governor of Louisiana after the death of Oscar K. Allen on January 28, 1936....
), the Lake C. Oxford Natatorium (completed in 1978), and several residence halls.
The then NLU became the largest university in North Louisiana in terms of both enrollment and state appropriations. Among the universities under the Louisiana Higher Education Board of Trustees, NLU had the greatest percent of faculty holding terminal degrees and more nationally accredited academic programs.
In 1961, under Walker's leadership ULM offered its first doctoral degree, the Ph.D. in pharmacy. The Ed.D. (since renamed Ph.D.) in education followed in 1967.
In addition to academic growth under his leadership, numerous support groups came to fruition: the Northeast Louisiana Concerts Association, NLU Foundation, NLU Athletic Scholarship Foundation, and the Northeast Louisiana Land Corporation. The land corporation was created in 1965 with local business leaders with the goal of procuring land for university expansion.
Walker's tenure at Louisiana Tech corresponded in part with that of F. Jay Taylor
F. Jay Taylor
Foster Jay Taylor, known as F. Jay Taylor , was a historian who served from 1962 to 1987 as the president of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston in Lincoln Parish in north Louisiana...
, the president from 1962 to 1987 of nearby Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...
in Ruston
Ruston, Louisiana
Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...
. Under Taylor's tenure, Louisiana Tech grew in similar fashion to that of ULM under Walker. Taylor died a month before the passing of Walker. The tenures of Walker and Taylor also corresponded to that of Arnold R. Kilpatrick
Arnold R. Kilpatrick
Arnold Roy Kilpatrick was a Louisiana educator and businessman who was the president of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches from 1966-1978.-Early years, education, military:...
, president of Northwestern State University from 1966 to 1978. During this same period Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones
Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones
Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, Sr. , also known as Ralph W. E. Jones or Prez Jones, was from 1936 until his retirement in 1977 the second president of historically black Grambling State University in Grambling in Lincoln Parish in north Louisiana.-Background:The grandson of a slave, Jones was born in...
was president of historically black Grambling State University
Grambling State University
Grambling State University is a historically black , public, coeducational university, located in Grambling, Louisiana. The university is the home of legendary football coach Eddie Robinson and is on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.-Academics:Grambling State University provides over...
in Grambling
Grambling, Louisiana
Grambling is a city in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 4,693 at the 2000 census. The city is home to Grambling State University and is part of the Ruston Micropolitan Statistical Area....
.
Family and legacy
In retirement Walker remained among ULM's civic boosters and was a familiar face at ULM WarhawksULM Warhawks
The Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks are the sports teams of the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 14 sports: baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, football, men's and women's golf, women's soccer, softball, men's and women's track and field, women's tennis, and...
football games and other university events.
Walker authored numerous academic and professional journal articles as well as several books on accounting and business education. Of his five copyrighted books, two were written during his retirement, The Building of a University (1991), which examines the early years of ULM, and the biographical Emy-Lou Biedenharn: Her Life and Legacy (1999).Emy-Lou Biedenharn was a world-renowned contralto from Monroe and the daughter of Joe Biedenharn, the first bottler of Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
.
In 1938, Walker married the former Mary Ellen Neal (1911–2002), his college sweetheart. They had a son, George T. Walker, Jr., of Monroe and a daughter, Ellen Claire Stephenson of Lancaster
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Walker died of a lengthy illness at the age of ninety=eight. In addition to his children, Walker was survived by five grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.
In 1997, the Louisiana Board of Regents awarded Walker its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for his ongoing dedication to higher education. He is also honored by the Mary Ellen and George Thomas Walker Scholarship Endowment through ULM.
A memorial service was held on July 9, 2011, at the First Presbyterian Church of Monroe, where Walker was an elder.His hometown newspaper, the Monroe News Star
Monroe News Star
The News-Star is the principal newspaper of Monroe and northeastern Louisiana. Its circulation area ranges over some dozen parishes from Ruston, the seat of Lincoln Parish, on the west, to Tallulah in Madison Parish on the east, to the Arkansas state line on the north, and to Ferriday in Concordia...
, paid tribute to Walker on theday before his memorial service:
"His legacy is both complex and far-reaching. While most associate him with the physical university here, in truth his greatest influence is to be found within the countless lives that were changed by his example. His abiding concern for the welfare of others, his courage in action, his quiet support when friends and colleagues needed it most, his
belief in the empowerment that comes through education, his charity of spirit — these will live on through the actions of those who knew him."