Biography of Dr. James R. Ramsey
Moving forward with change while respecting and building on the University of Louisville's great history and tradition.
This describes U of L President James R. Ramsey.
As U of L’s 17th president, Dr. Ramsey has worked aggressively to move the university closer to its goal of becoming a pre-eminent metropolitan institution of higher learning.
The university has made great strides in five strategic areas:
- Educational quality
- Extramural research
- Campus diversity
- Community partnerships
- Accountability
The quality of U of L’s freshman class has improved each year, with the average ACT score of incoming freshmen climbing to 23.9 in 2005-06 from 20.7 in 1995. What’s more, the university’s students are claiming a much larger share of the nation’s most prestigious academic honors.
Two U of L students recently were named Goldwater Scholars, receiving the most coveted undergraduate award in math, natural sciences and engineering. Another student earned a Fulbright teaching assistantship to work and study in Malaysia, while nine others received awards to study in places such as Korea, Tanzania and Turkey. Many of these students will return to Kentucky to live and work.
Ramsey also has created a university culture focused on conducting research that improves the quality of life for people in Kentucky and beyond. This research already has led to major milestones in healthcare, business and the environment. Today, U of L’s volume of federal research funding is four times higher than it was seven years ago and the university has become America’s fastest growing research university in National Institutes of Health funding.
Dr. Ramsey also has set the tone for encouraging diversity on campus. U of L has reached or made substantial progress on all eight of its goals set in The Kentucky Plan for Equal Opportunities.
The university’s ties with its community have never been stronger. Not only has U of L been a major player in the award-winning Partnership for a Green City with Jefferson County Public Schools and Louisville Metro government, it has launched a Signature Partnership Initiative to improve education, health care, social services and economic opportunity in Louisville's West End.
As U of L has continued to advance toward meeting its state-mandated goals, it has been significantly underfunded by the state relative to its peer institutions -- a true indicator of its stewardship and accountability.
A strong commitment to serving the community and commonwealth is nothing new for Ramsey. Before assuming U of L’s top post, he served as senior policy advisor and state budget director for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and senior professor of economics and public policy at U of L.
He also has held several other positions in state government, serving as interim commissioner of the Office of the New Economy and special advisor to the chairman of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.
On the academic side, he has served as vice chancellor for finance and administration at both University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Western Kentucky University. He has been associate dean, assistant dean and director of public administration in the College of Business Administration at Loyola University and a research associate for the University of Kentucky’s Center for Public Affairs.
He has taught on the faculties of the UNC, WKU, UK, Loyola University and Middle Tennessee State University.
A frequent national speaker and writer on economic issues in the public sector, Ramsey received the National Governor’s Association’s Outstanding Public Service Award in 2001 and was named Kentucky’s Distinguished Economist of the Year in 1999.
A Kentucky native, he holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Western Kentucky University and master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from UK.
Sharing his love for public service is his wife, Jane Ramsey, who is involved in a host of community activities and organizations. She heads an effort to beautify U of L’s Belknap Campus and revitalize its surrounding South Louisville neighborhood, and she recently returned from a trip to the Gulf Coast, where she joined a group helping rebuild neighborhoods ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.
The Ramseys’ two daughters attend U of L. Jenny, an Auburn University graduate, is studying nursing. Jacque is a sophomore.