James Lawrence Walkup (February 26, 1914 – August 7, 2002) was an American academic administrator who served as the eleventh president of

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1899, it was the third and final university established in the Arizona Territory. It is one of the three universities gove ...

from 1957 to 1979. He developed the school from a teachers' college to one with 152 degree specializations.

Early life and education

Walkup was born in

Wheeling, Missouri Wheeling is a city in eastern Livingston County, Missouri, United States. The population was 220 at the 2020 census. History Wheeling was laid out in 1865, and named after Wheeling, West Virginia, the native home of a first settler. A post offi ...

to college-educated parents, John L. and Jessie D. Walkup. He had two brothers named Allen and Lucian and attended the Wheeling Baptist Church. He graduated from high school in 1932 as the salutatorian of his class. In 1936, he earned a bachelor's degree from Central Missouri State College, where he majored in chemical and biological sciences. He earned a Master of Science degree in science education from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

Career

After college, he became an educator of math, science, and commerce, eventually becoming superintendent in Blackburn, Missouri. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

as a course analyst for cadet training during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Northern Arizona University

Early leadership

In 1948, Walkup earned his doctorate degree from the University of Missouri and was recruited by Lacey Eastburn to come to Arizona State College, now known as NAU, as an instructor. One of his first duties was to become director of the college's elementary school. In 1950, he became the head of the education department, the director of placement and the chair of the graduate council. In 1951, he became a Dean of Instruction and developed a whole new curriculum to re-attain the program's accreditation from the

North Central Association The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It ...

. He also developed the college's new graduate program. He was named dean of the College of Education in 1955 and was appointed president of Northern Arizona University in 1957.

Presidency

As President, Walkup tried to anticipate what a growing campus would need. In 1958, he organized the school into seven divisions. In the early-1960s, he started a building program and the college's enrollment climbed throughout the decade. He added a nursing program to the school's offerings in 1961. In 1966, he oversaw the renaming of the school from Arizona State College at Flagstaff to Northern Arizona University. Two years later, NAU began offering Doctorates of Philosophy and Education, and the first doctoral candidates graduated in 1973. Walkup oversaw the building of the South Campus which was completed in 1971. The Walkups were known for inviting students to their home for special occasions. "Lucy was the first lady on campus," Walkup said. He retired in 1979.

Community leadership

Walkup was elected president of the Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce in 1958. In 1964, he was elected to the board of directors of the First National Bank of Arizona. He was elected chairman of the selection committee for Rhodes Scholarships in Arizona in 1966. That same year he was selected Flagstaff's Citizen of the Year. In 1969, he was named national president of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. His community memberships have included the Church of the Master

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Church, the NAU Heritage Society, the NAU President's Circle,

Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity in North America. As of 2021, it had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 118,000 alumni. The fraternity is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded on February 26, 1897, at Vincennes Uni ...

fraternity,

Kappa Phi Kappa Kappa Phi Kappa () is an American professional fraternity for students in education. It was organized in 1922 at Dartmouth College. It currently has one active chapter at Ohio State University. History The idea behind the establishment of a nat ...

educational fraternity,

Kappa Delta Pi Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society in Education () is an American honor society for education. It was formed in 1911 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as one of the first discipline-specific honor societies. History Kappa Delta Pi grew out ...

Phi Delta Kappa PDK International (also known as PDK or Phi Delta Kappa International) is an international professional organization for educators. It was founded on January 24, 1906, at Indiana University. The fraternity administers the collegiate honor society ...

and the

Museum of Northern Arizona The Museum of Northern Arizona is a museum in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States, established as a repository for Indigenous material and natural history specimens from the Colorado Plateau. The museum was founded in 1928 by zoologist Dr. Harol ...

's Board of Directors. He was also a founding planner of Arizona Town Hall.

Retirement

In 1995, Walkup was named an "Arizona Historymaker" by the

Arizona Historical Society The Arizona Historical Society (AHS) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to connect people through the power of Arizona's history. It does this through four regional divisions. Each division has a representative museum A museum is ...

. He spent much of his time in Wheeling, Missouri where he owned a thousand-acre farm. To honor him, the

Arizona House of Representatives The Arizona House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Arizona Senate, Senate. The House convenes in the le ...

unanimously approved House Concurrent Resolution 2030. He also wrote six books, including two NAU books and two Walkup heritage books.

Personal life

While in the Navy, he married Lucy Meloy on June 2, 1943. She was an English and music teacher. They had a daughter named Susan. After his death, he was buried in Wheeling, Missouri. The

Walkup Skydome The J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome is an indoor multipurpose stadium in the southwestern United States, located on the campus of Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff, Arizona. It is primarily used as the home of the NAU Lumberjacks f ...

in Flagstaff was named in his honor. The facility is the third largest clear span timber dome in the world.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walkup, Lawrence Northern Arizona University faculty 1914 births 2002 deaths Baptists from Arizona University of Missouri alumni Baptists from Missouri United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century Baptists Sigma Pi members