When Chancellor Emeritus William H. Danforth asked community members at a memorial for the late Dean James Earl McLeod to stand if he had helped them become better people, every seat covering the Washington University Field House floor was emptied.

Dean James E. McLeod played a vital role on the Washington University campus for nearly four decades, bringing the community together and inspiring people to believe in themselves. He died on Tuesday, Sept. 6, after a two-year battle with cancer. McLeod, 67, first joined Washington University as a German professor in 1974.

James McLeod, the Vice Chancellor for Students and Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, passed away Tuesday after a long battle against cancer.

Senior Class President Fernando Cutz announced Wednesday night that the Class of 2010 would donate all funds raised through the senior class gift drive to the McLeod Scholars Program. The scholarship commemorates dean Jim McLeod, who has taken a leave of absence to undergo cancer treatment.