Julian Aeneas McPhee (February 7, 1896 – November 10, 1967) was the sixth

university president A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, California or California State Polytechnic Univ ...

(Cal Poly SLO) from 1933 to 1966 and the first president of

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona, CPP, or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo. See the '' name'' section of this article for more info ...

(Cal Poly Pomona) from 1938 to 1966.

Biography

Early life

Julian A. McPhee was born in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1896 to Charles and Ellen MacDonald McPhee,

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

immigrants of Scottish descent. He grew up in San Francisco, California, before earning his B.A. in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 1917. During his senior year, McPhee began teaching agricultural education at Pomona High School in

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

. He continued pursuing education as a career before enlisting in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

as an

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during the final months of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He briefly worked as an instructor at the Naval Port Guard and an aide in

Naval Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

before receiving an honorable discharge when the war ended in 1918. Julian returned to San Francisco and married Alma Doyle, with whom he would have six daughters: Helen, Bernadette, Jean, Claire, Carol, and Jule Ann.

Career

Agricultural Education

After the war, McPhee resumed his pursuit of education, becoming a high school agriculture teacher at

Gilroy High School Gilroy High School is a co-educational public school located in Gilroy, California, that serves the city of Gilroy. A part of the Gilroy Unified School District, is one of two public comprehensive high schools in the city and has an approximate ...

Gilroy, California Gilroy is a city in Northern California's Santa Clara County, south of Morgan Hill and north of San Benito County. Gilroy is the southernmost city in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a population of 56,766 as of the 2019 U.S. Census Projection ...

, where he was soon promoted to vice principal. During his years as a high school educator, McPhee strongly emphasizing agricultural education by forming agricultural and mechanical clubs in each of Gilroy's public schools, as well as encouraging "learn by doing," a philosophy which he later adapted to the Cal Polys, which still employ it to this day. In 1928, McPhee completed his master's degree in Agricultural Education through the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. From 1926 to 1944, McPhee worked as Chief of the State Bureau of Agricultural Education, forming the California state headquarters of

Future Farmers of America National FFA Organization is an American 501(c)(3) youth organization, specifically a career and technical student organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. It was founded in 1925 at Vi ...

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

, which were transferred to

San Luis Obispo, California San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...

in 1931.

Tenure at Cal Poly

Due to his influence in agricultural education, McPhee was appointed president of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1933, replacing Benjamin Crandall, who resigned due to his frustration with the college's dilapidated facilities and the lack of funding caused by

the Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. At that time, the state government was discussing the idea of converting Cal Poly into a state prison. By increasing profitable agricultural programs at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, McPhee not only saved the college from being closed by the state, but developed Cal Poly San Luis Obispo from a two-year technical school to a four-year college in the

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...

(CSU) system. Prior to McPhee's appointment, in 1930 due to crushing budget constraints, Cal Poly transitioned to an all-male institution as a cost savings measure, a policy which continued until 1956. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, McPhee served as director of California's War Food Production Training Program. He later served as acting chief of the Bureau of Readjustment Education, assistant executive officer of the State Board of Vocational Education, and director of Vocational Education for the State of California. He also oversaw the establishment of a second Cal Poly campus in

Pomona, California Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 151,713. The main campus of California State Polyte ...

which he acquired from cereal magnate

Will Keith Kellogg William Keith Kellogg (April 7, 1860 – October 6, 1951), generally referred to as W.K. Kellogg, was an American industrialist in food manufacturing, best known as the founder of the Kellogg's, Kellogg Company, which produces a wide variety of ...

in 1949 and which became a separate CSU college,

, in 1966. That same year, after thirty-three years as president of the Cal Polys, Julian A. McPhee retired due to failing health. He died of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

on November 10, 1967 at the age of 71. Two current landmarks of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's campus are named for McPhee: the Julian A. McPhee University Union and Julian's Patisserie, a small coffee shop located within the

Robert E. Kennedy Library The Robert E. Kennedy Library is the primary library of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Opened in 1980 and named in honor of President Emeritus Robert E. Kennedy, the five-story building houses nearly five million items, ...

, itself named for Robert E. Kennedy, McPhee's successor as university president.

References

External links

Cal Poly: Biography of Julian A. McPhee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcphee, Julian A Presidents of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California Polytechnic State University faculty California State Polytechnic University, Pomona faculty American agriculturalists American school administrators 1896 births 1967 deaths Schoolteachers from California Educators from Greater Los Angeles University of California, Berkeley alumni Deaths from colorectal cancer People from San Francisco American people of Canadian descent American people of Scottish descent 20th-century American academics