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Looking back over 33 years, John R. Talley, '85, can still recall what it was like to receive the Forrest M. Jump Memorial Scholarship as an incoming student at the law school.

As the eighth of nine children in his family, tuition costs for college—let alone law school—had always been a factor. After graduating from IU Bloomington, Talley knew that this scholarship would make all the difference.

“Law school would certainly have been much more of a struggle without it, and it was the overriding factor in choosing McKinney,” he says. “It really had a huge impact. I could actually concentrate on law school and all the incredible opportunities it offered.”

Those opportunities did pay off for John. He met his wife, Lesa McDaniel Talley, '85, at McKinney, where he graduated magna cum laude. He practiced law at Barnes & Thornburg and went on to serve in a variety of executive positions at Indiana Energy and Indiana Gas. While at Indiana Gas, he developed federal regulatory strategy and represented the company in hearings before the Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the U.S. Court of Appeals on matters pertaining to interstate pipeline rate and tariff changes.

He helped to found ProLiance Holdings, an energy-related holding company, and served as president of ProLiance Energy, its largest subsidiary. The Indianapolis-based marketing and trading company served over 1,900 industrial and commercial customers in 16 states and built revenues to $3 billion annually, prior to the sale of the company in 2013.

He has now embarked on yet another career, in real estate investment and development. He and Lesa own Madison Street Properties, LLC, and affiliated companies, which buy, sell and manage commercial real estate. He and Lesa are now working on the restoration of the 1930s-era former post office in Franklin, Indiana, where he and Lesa live. He is a trustee of Franklin College, and serves on the Board of Visitors of the Indiana University McKinney School of Law.

The Talley family includes a daughter, Virginia, a 2L at McKinney, and another daughter, Kaitlin, who graduated in 2017 from the School of Law at the University of San Francisco and recently was admitted to the bar in both California and Indiana.

The Jump Scholarship was established in 1980 by a generous gift from the estate of Frieda E. Jump in loving memory of her late husband, Hon. Forrest E. Jump, a respected and admired former judge of the Howard County Circuit Court in Kokomo, Indiana, and a 1908 graduate of the Indiana Law School (a predecessor school to IU McKinney Law). The scholarships are awarded to students based on high academic credentials, financial need, well-rounded interests and activities, professional qualities and attitudes, and high moral character.

Mrs. Jump expressed in her will that she hopes that the recipients, as their careers advance and prosper, would assist future law students as they were assisted.

John believes that Mrs. Jump was a “compassionate, smart woman,” who knew that supporting scholarships for law students makes an impact beyond the individual recipient.

He believes it, too. 

“When a talented individual decides not to go to law school because financial considerations weigh too heavily, society loses that talent too, whether in the judiciary, in commerce, or in pursuing human rights,” John says. “The legal profession needs that talent.”

Consider supporting the McKinney Law General Scholarship Fund or contact Nan Edgerton about endowing a scholarship in your name.