Leaders Learn Here: Jim Strickland, Former City of Memphis Mayor

As an undergrad at the University of Memphis, former City of Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland was a finance major, even though he knew by his junior year that he didn’t want to do that for a living. So, the president of the student body his senior year decided to go to law school (again, at Memphis), because “you can do a lot of things with a law degree.”

Strickland has no doubt that graduating from the UofM Law School helped his political career. Today, he is dean of the Law School, a position he accepted in March after his final term as mayor concluded at the end of 2023.

“Lawyers are trained to do several things that translate to the political world,” he said. “You work long hours, and research issues with which you’re not familiar and understand them well enough to explain them to others. You also learn to argue and disagree with another person and not make it personal.”

There was never a question that he would stay in Memphis, and he is forever grateful to the University.

“Whatever I’ve accomplished in my professional life is in large part because of the seven years I spent at the University of Memphis,” he said. “It gave me a great balance of intellectual rigor with practical, real-life experience. I loved that mix.”

His political career — he worked at Glankler Brown, founded his own legal practice and served on the Memphis City Council before he became Mayor — showed him the enormous value of the University to the city.

“Keep in mind that the UofM is our biggest producer of employees. The better the University does, the better the city does,” he said.

A longtime season ticket holder for both basketball and football, Strickland has passed his love for the University along to his son, a senior.

“You meet great professors and get a great education,” he said. “It was true when I went there, and it’s true now for my son.

“I love the University of Memphis.”