[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 62 (Wednesday, May 15, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E808]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO JAMES W. WALKER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 15, 2002

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to James W. Walker, 
who will retire this summer as president of Moorpark College, in 
Moorpark, California.
  President Walker has overseen enormous growth at Moorpark College in 
his ten-year tenure as president. When he arrived in 1992, enrollment 
stood at 11,900 students. Today it stands at more than 14,500 and is 
projected to grow to 19,000 students by 2015. To prepare for that 
growth, President Walker recently led the college through a strategic 
planning process and the creation of a Moorpark College Facilities 
Master Plan. The comprehensive document details renovations and new 
construction that will be necessary to continue providing an 
outstanding education to Moorpark students.
  His work on the Master Plan was instrumental in convincing the 
Ventura County Community College District Board of Trustees to place a 
$356 million bond measure on the March 5, 2002, ballot, which passed 
with 65 percent of the vote.
  The Master Plan and successful bond measure are typical of President 
Walker's leadership. During his tenure, he oversaw construction of the 
Performing Arts Center and the Kavli Science Center, and planning for 
the Learning Resource and Telecommunications Center. He established 
numerous educational and business partnerships, including preparations 
for off-campus centers in Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks. In 1999, he 
partnered with the Moorpark Unified School District to create The High 
School at Moorpark College for high-achieving Moorpark students.
  President Walker's retirement caps a 43-year career in public 
education, which includes teaching at the high school and community 
college levels and many management positions. In 1994-95, he was tapped 
to serve as interim chancellor of the College District because of the 
untimely death of then-Chancellor Thomas Lakin. He is a former member 
of the Board of Directors of the Chief Executive Officers, California 
Community Colleges and current board member of Intelecom. He was a 
founding member of the advisory board for California State University 
at Channel Islands and is on the Board of Visitors for Pepperdine 
University.
  In his spare time, he served on the boards of the Moorpark Boys & 
Girls Club and the Southeast Ventura County YMCA. He has also run all 
17 Los Angeles Marathons.
  Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues will join me in thanking James W. 
Walker for his lifelong dedication to the education of our children, 
and in wishing him and his wife of more than 40 years, Nancy, well-
eamed quality time with their son and daughter-in-law, Scott and Kerri, 
and their three daughters; and daughter and son-in-law Laura and Kevin, 
and their three sons.




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