James Edward McClelland Jr. was born in Fayetteville, Washington County, Arkansas, on July 30, 1943.
McClelland earned a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the University of Arkansas in 1967.
McClelland worked for Mehlburger Engineers of Little Rock until 1977, when he established a Little Rock office of his father's civil engineering firm, McClelland Consulting Engineers, Inc. McClelland became president of MCE in 1986 when his father retired. Under McClelland's direction, MCE was the civil engineer firm for projects such as the William Jefferson Clinton Library, Arkansas Children's Hospital, and the Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. He became chairman emeritus in 2009.
McClelland was appointed to two terms on the Arkansas Health Department Board of Directors beginning in 1978. President Bill Clinton appointed McClelland to the Engineers and Surveyors Licensing Board in 1985, and he has been a member of the Arkansas Children's Foundation board. He was named the Arkansas Engineer of the Year by the Arkansas Society of Professional Engineers and is a 2012 Fayetteville Schools Hall of Honor inductee. McClelland and his wife, Pat, support the J. E. and Maurice A. McClelland Endowed Scholarship in Civil Engineering at the University.
#1: Composite image of early photo of James E. McClelland Jr. and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Jim McClelland's paternal grandfather, Chalmer Kirk McClelland Sr., ca. 1940
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Jim McClelland's paternal grandmother, Annie Grace McClelland, ca. 1940
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Jim McClelland's father, John Edward "Ep" McClelland Sr., and uncles, Chalmer, Clem, and Bram McClelland at home on Storer Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas, 1936
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Jim McClelland's mother, Lillian Maurice Ash (with plane), in the Northwest Arkansas Times; caption reads: Miss Maurice Ash, of Fayetteville, shown at a plane, the only girl student in the CAA flying school here, earned her "wings" this week by taking a solo flight. Miss Ash is a sophomore in the University of Arkansas; January 18, 1940
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Jim McClelland with his parents, Maurice and Ep McClellan, and grandparents, Chalmer and Annie Grace McClelland, in Longview, Texas, 1944
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Jim McClelland with his father, Ep McClelland; Baltimore, Maryland, 1944
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Jim McClelland (left) with his brother, Raymond, and father, Ep McClelland; Fayetteville, Arkansas, ca. 1949
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Jim McClelland with cousins and other family, Longview, Texas, ca. 1950
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Jim McClelland (right) with his siblings, Linda and Raymond; Fayetteville, Arkansas, ca. 1952
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Jim McClelland's grandparents, Raymond and Lillian Ash, Fayetteville, Arkansas, 1952
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Jim McClelland as cheerleader on front of car in University of Arkansas homecoming parade on Dickson Street, Fayetteville Arkansas; October 1962
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Jim McClelland (front row, 3rd from right) on the sidelines at the Sugar Bowl game, New Orleans, Louisiana; January 1, 1963
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: Jim and Pat McClelland at their wedding, Trinity Methodist Church, Little Rock, Arkansas, June 5, 1965
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: Jim McClelland (standing, on right) with Governor David Pryor (seated) at the State Proclamation of National Engineer Week
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: McClelland family gathering at Farmer's Daughter Restaurant, Fayetteville, Arkansas, ca. 1980
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Jim McClelland with his father, James E. "Ep" McClelland Sr., June 1986
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Jim McClelland at his mom and dad's 50th anniversary, June 1990
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#19: Jim McClelland (right)
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: Jim and Pat McClelland with President Bill Clinton in the Oval Office on Clinton's birthday, August 19, 1993
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Jim McClelland's father, Ep, with siblings Clem, Ann, Bram, and Chalmer
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#22: McClelland Consulting Engineers, Inc. office, 900 W. Markham St., Little Rock, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#23: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with James E. McClelland Jr.; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2017
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with James E. McClelland Jr.; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2017
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#25: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with James E. McClelland Jr.; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2017
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
