John Maclean Jr.,
D.D.
A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity.
In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...
(March 3, 1800 – August 10, 1886) was an American
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
clergyman and educator who served as the tenth President of
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
, then known as the College of New Jersey. Maclean, the son of the first professor of
chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
at the College of New Jersey, grew up in
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
. He attended the College and later
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...
. At age 23, he became full professor of
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
at the university. Six years later, he became university vice president. He was responsible for bringing a number of renown scholars and academics to the college. During this time, he also left mathematics and became professor of
ancient languages
An ancient language is any language originating in times that may be referred to as ancient. There are no formal criteria for deeming a language ancient, but a traditional convention is to demarcate as "ancient" those languages that existed prior t ...
. Maclean was one of the chief architects of the state's public education system. His plan for a state
normal school
A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...
, local boards of education and nonsectarian public schools was adopted by the
state legislature. He became president of the College of New Jersey in 1854. He led the university through the 1855 burning of
Nassau Hall
Nassau Hall, colloquially known as Old Nassau, is the oldest building at Princeton University in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. In 1783 it served as the United States Capitol building for four months. At the time it was built ...
and the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. After retiring from his post after 14 years in office, he wrote a two-volume history of the university. He served as the honorary president of the university's Alumni Association until his death.
Early life
Maclean Jr. was born in
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
, as the son of John Maclean Sr., the first professor of
chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
at the College of New Jersey. He attended the College of New Jersey and graduated in 1816 as the youngest member of his class. He then spent the next two years earning his
Doctor of Divinity
A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity.
In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...
degree from the
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...
. Afterwards, he went back to the university and began as a tutor in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
. He became a full professor of
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
at age 23. In 1824, he helped to create the
Chi Phi
Chi Phi () is considered by some as the oldest American men's college social fraternities and sororities, fraternity that was established as the result of the merger of three separate organizations that were each known as Chi Phi. The earliest o ...
Society, a semi-religious, semi-literary organization, which ceased activity the following year when it merged with the Philadelphian Society.
As vice president
In the late 1820s, Maclean devised a plan to enlarge and improve the faculty, in hopes of reversing the declining enrollment which had beleaguered the university over the last few years, to the point that university president
James Carnahan
James Carnahan (November 15, 1775 – March 2, 1859) was an American clergyman and educator who served as the ninth President of Princeton University.
Born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Carnahan was an 1800 graduate of the school when it w ...
considered shutting down the institution. Maclean's plan was accepted by the university's trustees in 1829, and he was subsequently named vice president. During his 25 years at that position, Maclean brought in a number of noted scholars to the institution, such as
Joseph Henry
Joseph Henry (December 17, 1797– May 13, 1878) was an American scientist who served as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He was the secretary for the National Institute for the Promotion of Science, a precursor of the Smith ...
,
Arnold Henry Guyot
Arnold Henry Guyot ( ) (September 28, 1807February 8, 1884) was a Swiss-American geologist and geographer.
Early life
Guyot was born on September 28, 1807, at Boudevilliers, near Neuchâtel, Switzerland. He was educated at Chaux-de-Fonds, th ...
,
John Torrey
John Torrey (August 15, 1796 – March 10, 1873) was an American botany, botanist, chemist, and physician. Throughout much of his career, he was a teacher of chemistry, often at multiple universities, while he also pursued botanical work, focus ...
,
Stephen Alexander and Albert B. Dod. Maclean also shifted his professorship from mathematics to
ancient languages
An ancient language is any language originating in times that may be referred to as ancient. There are no formal criteria for deeming a language ancient, but a traditional convention is to demarcate as "ancient" those languages that existed prior t ...
until 1854, when he succeeded James Carnahan as the tenth president of the university.
President of the university
During his 14-year tenure as president, Maclean led the university through some difficult times. In 1855, after
Nassau Hall
Nassau Hall, colloquially known as Old Nassau, is the oldest building at Princeton University in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. In 1783 it served as the United States Capitol building for four months. At the time it was built ...
burned down, he sought the financial support of alumni and beneficiaries to contribute funds for rebuilding. He operated the college on a limited budget for five years and gave up part of his own salary to help rebuild the hall. The university lost a number of students who joined the
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
and
Confederate armies during the Civil War. Maclean kept the faculty together and managed a complete educational program for the students still attending the university. During the war Maclean, as voted by the board of trustees, conveyed an honorary
Doctor of Laws
A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...
degree to President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
. Lincoln accepted, and wrote to Maclean that "
e assurance conveyed by this high compliment that the course of the government which I represent has received the approval of a body of gentlemen of such character and intelligence in this time of public trial is most grateful to me."
As president, Maclean witnessed the start of
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
at Princeton, heard the first rendition of the university
alma mater, ''Old Nassau'', and voted to make orange among the university's official colors.
Other work
In 1828, Maclean gave an address, advocating for a
public education
State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...
system in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. He drew up a plan for a state
normal school
A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...
, local
boards of education, and nonsectarian public schools. On the subject of religion and public education, Maclean stated:
The state legislature soon afterwards adopted his public education plan. Maclean also took interest in local churches. He served as a counselor,
benefactor and organizer of the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church and the Second Presbyterian Church, which became known as "Doctor Maclean's Church". Maclean also was involved with the state's prisons. As a member of the New Jersey Prison Association, he conducted weekly
services at the state penitentiary in
Trenton.
Retirement
After retiring from the university, Maclean's friends bought him a house, where he lived during the remainder of his life. In 1877, he wrote a two-volume history of the university entitled ''History of the College of New Jersey: From Its Origin in 1746 to the Commencement of 1854''. He served as honorary president of the university's Alumni Association and attended an alumni commencement meeting in 1886, just six weeks before his death.
Maclean was honored with the naming of university's Maclean House, which has served as the office of the Alumni Council since 1968.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclean, John Jr.
1800 births
1886 deaths
Presidents of Princeton University
Princeton University alumni
Princeton University faculty
Mathematics educators
Language teachers
People from Princeton, New Jersey
American Presbyterian ministers
Princeton Theological Seminary alumni
Burials at Princeton Cemetery
19th-century American clergy