James L. “Jim” Llorens earned a B.S. degree in Psychology from Loyola University in 1968.  He was a student of Dr. Paddy Doll, long-time Chair of the Department  of Psychology.  Jim was one of a small group of African Americans pursuing undergraduate studies at Loyola at the time. He transferred to Loyola in 1965 after spending his freshman year at Rockhurst College in Kansas City.  During his matriculation at Loyola he helped organize the first African-American student organization, Expression. 

He is a native of Alexandria, Louisiana and a graduate of St. James High in Alexandria, which closed in 1969 following the desegregation of Catholic schools in Alexandria.  Following graduation from Loyola, Jim married Glenda Darensbourg, then a student at Xavier University and they began a life together.  Jim entered the U.S. Army in December of 1968 and served three years in the Army, including a tour of duty in the Viet Nam Conflict.  Following his discharge from the Army as a 1st. Lieutenant, Jim returned to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he and Glenda had moved following their marriage. He completed the Master of Science degree in Urban Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1975 and shortly after he and Glenda moved to New Orleans where he worked for a short time as an urban planner.  They then moved to Baton Rouge, Glenda’s home town and settled there to begin to raise a family.  Jim served for 14 years in city government in several positions, with the final six years as Director of Human Resources as a mayoral appointee.  During his tenure with the city, he began teaching part-time at Southern University in the Department of Public Administration and decided to pursue a career in academia.  In 1992 he earned the Ph.D. in Political Science from Louisiana State University and began a full-time career at Southern, moving almost immediately into the position of Chair of the Department of Political Science.  During this time his research focused on Black Politics and he served as a consultant for the Department of Justice on voting rights issues.  He also served as a campaign consultant for several African-American politicians in their campaigns for state, local, and federal offices.  In 1997 he was asked to Chair the Department of Public Administration and the Master of Public Administration program.  He served in this capacity for five years before being appointed interim Dean of Graduate Studies in 2002 and being named permanent Dean following a national search in 2003.  During his tenure as Dean he served on several national committees with the Council of Graduate Schools, most notably chairing the Committee on Minorities in Graduate Education. He was active in the Council of Historically Black Graduate Schools and still serves as Treasurer of that organization. In 2008 he was appointed to and still serves on the GRE services committee of Educational Testing Services (ETS).  He retired from Southern in December 2008 when he was asked by the Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish to return to city government and serve as Assistant Chief Administrative Officer.  He has held that position since January 2009 and has enjoyed the move to government while still maintaining ties to higher education.  As Assistant Chief Administrative Officer he has responsibility for managing several city departments, including human resources, community development, workforce investment, juvenile services, and neighborhood services while also leading several special projects in the office of the Mayor-President.

Jim is very active in the Baton Rouge Community.  He is a founding member and former board member of 100 Black Men of Metro Baton Rouge, a board member of the Capitol High Academy Charter School operated by 100 Black Men of Baton Rouge, a board member of the Capitol City Family Health Center, and has served on boards and committees of several non-profit and governmental organizations over the past years.