James M. McKelvey

Jim McKelvey is a St. Louis entrepreneur and co-founder of the mobile payments company Square. McKelvey started Square in 2009 with Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, to enable small businesses to run their storefronts on a mobile device. Mr. McKelvey’s other endeavors include: LaunchCode, Third Degree Glass Factory, Mira Digital Publishing, and Invisibly. In addition to his leadership on the Board of Trustees, Mr. McKelvey is a former member of the Alumni Board of Governors, the St. Louis Young Alumni Club, and the Engineering Advisory Committee/Board. He was the recipient of the Engineering Alumni Achievement Award in 2012, the Robert S. Brookings Award in 2017, and, in 2019, delivered the commencement address for the McKelvey School of Engineering. Mr. McKelvey earned his bachelor’s degrees in economics and computer science from Washington University in St. Louis.