Cheryl Walker: Not Your Average Poet

Name: Cheryl Walker

UMR connection: 1986 grad, electrical engineering, 1983 UMR Homecoming Queen

The road less traveled: Walker channels creative expression into poetry. She is a member of The Eugene Redmond Writer's Club and her chapbook, Silence Isn't Quiet, was published by Southern Illinois University.

Jazz inspiration: Walker's dad, a professional jazz musician, performed with Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Earl Hines. This influence resonates throughout much of her work.

Day job: Walker is chief operating officer and general counsel of Citadel Partners LLC, which has two operating entities -- Citadel Construction Services LLC and Citadel Partners Development LLC.

A lawyer? Walker's a people person. During her last semesters at UMR, she took some civil engineering courses that were a lot like pre-law courses and decided practicing law would give her more human interaction. In 1990 she graduated from Washington University.

An ounce of prevention: Engineering influenced the way Walker practices law by teaching her to solve "potential" problems before their effects are felt. Like an engineer, she can "analyze existing facts and see what can be done to make it run more smoothly."

Fearless leader: Walker is one of nine members of the University of Missouri Board of Curators, the UM System's governing body. Her term runs through 2009.