The Presidents: John C. McDonald
The 11th President of the Board of Regents, John C. McDonald served the Board of Regents from 1981-87. He was elected Board president May 1, 1985, succeeding S.J. Brownlee, and served in that capacity until his term ended in 1987.
McDonald was born in Lorimar in 1924. He attended Simpson College and Southern Illinois University before serving as a pilot for the U.S. Army Air Force in the pacific theater of the Second World War. McDonald also served in Korea and achieved the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
Between his terms of service, McDonald earned a law degree from Drake University. Following his discharge, McDonald formed the Hall and McDonald law firm and later became senior partner in the McDonald, Brown and Fagen law firm. He was active in politics, serving as a delegate to the Republican National Convention six times between 1964 and 1988 and as Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa from 1969-75. Governor Robert Ray appointed McDonald to the Board of Regents in 1981.
Upon accepting his appointment as Board President in 1985, McDonald was quick to thank his predecessor, Brownlee, saying he “hoped he would be successful in emulating the service and leadership of [him].”
With his term as president sandwiched between Brownlee and Marvin Pomerantz, it is perhaps a bit too easy to overlook McDonald’s contributions to the Board and to Iowa’s public universities. McDonald’s Board faced many of the same economic troubles and appropriations cuts seen in the early 1980s. Inflation affected numerous projects and nearly every meeting was an exercise in approving revised budgets for building projects that had seen their costs jump.
The combination of budget cuts, inflation and an influx of new students strained university resources and led to the Board controversially capping UNI enrollment at 11,500. The cap, championed by UNI President Constantine Curris, was intended to help alleviate financial pressures on UNI caused, in part, by increased resident enrollment and decreased appropriations. It remained in place until 1989, with Curris remarking at the time “we have the parking space to handle [it].”
Though much of McDonald’s tenure was spent fighting economic headwinds, his board also took on the unenviable task of replacing long-time ISU President Robert Parks, who retired shortly after McDonald’s election as Board president. The search produced Gordon Eaton as ISU’s 12th president in 1986.
McDonald left the Board when his term expired in 1987 and considered his experience as a Regent among his highest honors of many educational accolades. He was awarded the Simpson College Achievement Award in 1974 and the Drake University Distinguished Alumni Award in 1978.
McDonald died December 2, 2005. He was 81.
