Malcolm S. MacLean papers

Malcolm MacLean, B.A., University of Michigan (1916); Ph.D., University of Minnesota (1929). Professor and director of the General College at the University of Minnesota (1932-1940).

Malcolm Shaw MacLean was born on January 4, 1893 in Denver, Colorado. He earned his B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1916 and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1929. MacLean was an instructor of English at Northwestern University (1916-1919) and later an instructor of English at the University of Minnesota (1924-1929). In 1929, MacLean accepted the position of associate professor at the University of Wisconsin and assistant director of the Milwaukee Center (1930-1932). He returned to the University of Minnesota in 1932 as professor and first director of the newly established General College. In 1940, he left the University of Minnesota to become president of Hampton Institute, now Hampton University (1940-1942).

In 1942, he served as chair of President Roosevelt's Commission on Fair Employment Practices. He was a commander in the U.S. Navy from 1942-1945 and then accepted a position as professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, retiring as professor emeritus in 1961. In 1968, the University of Minnesota awarded MacLean the Outstanding Achievement Award, the highest honor conferred upon an alumnus of the University, for his work in higher education and racial equality.