James Lakso

James was class valedictorian and participated in football as an All Conference QB and MVP I 1962 as well as basketball MVP in 1963. He attended Wittenberg University earning a BA and a PhD from the University of Maryland in Economics. He joined the Juniata faculty in 1970. Jim was Provost at Juniata College from 1997-2013. He was awarded Juniata’s Beachley Distinguished Professor Award in 1983 and the Award for Distinguished Service in 2005.

He was selected as the Chief Academic Officer of the year by the Council of Independent Colleges in 2012. The James J. Lakso Center for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning that promotes faculty professional development was created in his name. Jim served on the boards of his church, a local hospital, a community bank and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg.