Alumnus establishes scholarship for joint MBA/J.D. program
A new scholarship will support students in KU’s joint MBA and Juris Doctor program, thanks to J.R. Walters, School of Business alumnus. He recently
established the James R. Walters Joint J.D./MBA Scholarship to help offset expenses students face while completing the dual degrees.
Walters received his Bachelor of Science in business administration in 1971 and went on to earn his joint MBA/J.D. in 1975 as one of the first students in
the dual degree program. His career spans across multiple business disciplines ranging from tax accounting to business development to business consulting. Walters started JRW Business Consulting in St. Louis in 2003, where he has served the area with tax, business and accounting consulting for 20 years. He credits his successes to the joint MBA/J.D. program.
“I attest to the benefits of the joint degree. I have had financial success due to the program,” Walters said. “I want to assist others with the increased costs related to additional years of classes.”
Students in the joint MBA/J.D. program complete their degrees in four years, in which they take three years of law school courses and one year of MBA curriculum. For one full year, students will join an MBA cohort and complete their MBA coursework for two semesters before finishing their J.D. courses. Walters hopes that this scholarship alleviates the cost
of two degrees within one program.
“An MBA is normally two years, and a J.D. is normally three years. Even though one benefits from two degrees upon completion, it does cost more than a single degree. A scholarship may be the deciding factor in pursuing such a worthy double degree program.”
Walters is a longtime supporter of the university and the School of Business. He previously established the Arno Knapper Teaching
Innovation Fellowship in the school to honor the late Arno Knapper, a School of Business professor and his former mentor from his undergraduate and graduate years.
Through the James R. Walters Joint J.D./MBA Scholarship, the program can attract students who may have been worried about the costs of both degrees and give them the resources and time to focus on earning their degrees.
“The satisfaction that I feel by helping someone achieve a great education is very rewarding,” Walters said. “I worked to pay my entire college expenses. Doing that definitely took needed time away from my studies. Scholarships help a student devote more time to their education.”