Retired education professor’s giving has grown along with VCU

By Chelyen Davis

Alan McLeod, Ph.D., arrived at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1969 to become an assistant professor in the School of Education. In the years since, VCU has changed dramatically, growing from about 6,000 students to nearly 30,000 and developing into a nationally ranked public research university.

But one thing has been constant since 1984: Every year, McLeod has donated to support VCU.

He first shows up in the records that year with a $15 donation to what was then called University Library Services (now VCU Libraries). And every year after that - 42 and counting - he has donated to an area of VCU.

Some years he has given to VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center. Sometimes it has been to VCU Athletics. Sometimes the library. But mostly McLeod's donations have supported the School of Education, where he taught for 35 years until 2004 and what he calls his first "failed retirement." He was coaxed back for administrative work, then retired again three years later.

How have McLeod and his wife chosen where to designate their funds? "Just areas of greatest need," he said. "[We] decided long ago that we wanted to help build VCU with what few discretionary dollars we have."

Finding 'the perfect mix' at VCU

His path to teacher education began after graduating from Washington and Lee University in 1962, a history major with a minor in English. He taught in Roanoke for a while, at a time when, he says, more men were being encouraged to go into college teaching. He earned his master's and doctorate from the University of Virginia, then began job hunting.

VCU appealed to McLeod because of its newness - and because his wife had suffered a brain aneurysm and they wanted to be in a city with a major medical center. When they arrived in 1969, it was just a year after Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia merged to create VCU. "This was a real new institution," McLeod said. "It was exciting to come."

McLeod served in the School of Education and as an advisor in the Department of English as someone who taught students to become English teachers. It was the perfect mix, he said.

"What I observed in my time is that a lot of the folks who go in to become elementary teachers go in because they love kids … [and] secondary education folks tend to be ones who love the content, the subject," McLeod said. "I was kind of between the two: I loved the kids and I loved the content. It was a pleasure for me to be able to work with language and literature with people who really engaged with that."

He helped to create majors, instruct students and run divisions, teaching classes such as Methods of Teaching English, Writing as a Way of Learning and Literature for Adolescents. In the 1970s, he helped develop a Master of Arts program that the departments of English and Teacher Education shared at first, before being split back into its respective departments by the mid-'80s. In 1984, McLeod became head of the Division of Teacher Education, overseeing elementary education, secondary education, and reading and curriculum instruction.

As VCU grew, McLeod was gratified to see his programs and the university develop a national reputation.

"It was really interesting when I would go to national conferences, to rub shoulders with the other well-known English educators and be recognized, and when I was in the administrative role to go to various administrative conferences and to be rubbing shoulders with people, and for them to recognize what kind of institution VCU was becoming," McLeod said. "Getting the admiration of your peers is always nice."

He has watched the requirements of VCU faculty expand to include research and contributions to their field.

"I'm not real big on national rankings, but the fact is, the School of Education does have a wonderful national ranking," McLeod said. (U.S. News & World Report ranked the VCU School of Education 19th nationally among public universities in 2026.) "I saw some magnificent faculty come through … they made significant contributions to the community and the profession. That's what really helped build that program."

A fund for faculty

When McLeod was still working, he recalled, he requested funding so that faculty members could travel to present at professional conferences. So when he retired, colleagues asked him if he'd like to commemorate his career in a way that would enhance faculty development at the School of Education.

And so the McLeod Faculty Development Fund was born in 2006, seeded with support from McLeod's colleagues and endowed by McLeod and his wife. Tenured, tenure-track or adjunct faculty can apply for support for activities that they can demonstrate will promote their professional development.

"The contributions I make now to VCU go to that faculty development fund, to athletics and to the library," McLeod said. "As long as we can continue to do so, we will."

The recipient last year was Meera Mehtaji, Ph.D., an alum and associate professor in the VCU School of Education's Department of Counseling and Special Education, who used her funding to purchase three assessment tools for teachers to use to measure student progress. Now that VCU owns those tools, student teachers can see how they work and gain experience using them in a classroom.

"I realized we need more assessments and we need a library of assessments that can help our teachers practice and be prepared with good evidence-based assessments out there," she said. "Now I can show it to see how to use it but also give them examples to use and interpret the data. It made their practice more robust. … We're bridging that gap and that disconnect."

This year, Elizabeth Edmonson, Ph.D., was the recipient of McLeod's fund. Edmonson is a term faculty member in the Department of Teaching and Learning, where she teaches courses on teacher development with a focus on science education. She used the funding to attend a weeklong writing retreat in Corolla, North Carolina, with other women science educators from across the country.

"I was very productive. I got two annual reports for grants written; I worked on two different papers. It was nice to have that quiet dedicated time when I was not doing my usual faculty things and answering student emails and things like that," Edmonson said.

She adds that McLeod's fund continues to have a valuable impact on education faculty members.

"The others in the department that have gotten it have always appreciated the opportunity to do things that we're not usually able to do," she said. "There are a number of us in teaching and learning who have found those resources very helpful for continuing our research and our efforts."

She hasn't met McLeod, but is grateful for his passion for the School of Education. She hopes he knows "just how appreciative I am that he would think that's something worthy, supporting the faculty after he retired."

Learn more about opportunities to support students, faculty and initiatives in the VCU School of Education.