Walker left his mark
posted Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011 @ 12:52 pm

The University of Louisiana-Monroe community lost a true friend over the weekend when Dr. George T. Walker died at age 98.

A native of Jonesboro in Jackson Parish, Walker's ties to higher education were cemented at Northwestern in Natchitoches where he earned his bachelor's degree and later served as a dean at the institution. He honed his education at LSU where he earned his master's and doctorate degrees.

Walker kicked off his career at ULM in 1934 when the school was a junior college of LSU. Walker taught commerce in those days.

In 1958 after he served in a number of capacities in higher education circles, Walker took over as president of then-Northeast Louisiana State College, a small school at the time where roughly 2,000 students were enrolled.

Walker recognized that if Northeast (now ULM) was to ever become competitive with other colleges and universities in Louisiana and beyond, the institution must set itself apart. He tackled that chore by offering top-shelf salaries to lure the best and brightest to teach at Northeast. He felt students would follow.