Donald Malcolm Maxwell (b 1934,

Watford, England Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, an ...

- d 2007,

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) was the 19th

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Pacific Union College Pacific Union College (PUC) is a private university, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Angwin, California. It is the only four-year college in Napa County, California, Napa County. It is a coeducational r ...

Education

Maxwell graduated from Pacific Union College in 1956 with degrees in theology and biblical languages. He went on to pursue a Master of Arts degree at

Andrews University Andrews University is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists and is the flagship universit ...

in systematic theology. After completing his Master of Arts, he pursued a doctorate in biblical studies specializing in the New Testament at New Jersey's

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three scho ...

. While there, he was named a

Rockefeller Fellow The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

and Drew University Scholar.

Personal life

The youngest of four sons of

Arthur S. Maxwell Arthur Stanley Maxwell (January 14, 1896 – November 13, 1970), otherwise known as Uncle Arthur, was an author, editor, and administrator of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Biography Maxwell was born in London, England. During his teena ...

, of Uncle Arthur fame, Maxwell met his wife, Eileen, in 1955 while still a student at Pacific Union College. They were married for 52 years until her death in April 2007.

Educator

Maxwell taught in the theology departments of

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

and then Walla Walla College before being selected chair of the department, and later, dean in Walla Walla's School of Theology. In 1978 he became the Vice President for Academic Administration at Walla Walla until 1981 when he returned to teach in the theology department, where he taught until accepting an opportunity to serve as President of Pacific Union College.

President of Pacific Union College

In June 1983, Malcolm Maxwell became president of Pacific Union College. He was the first alumnus of the school to serve as president. At the time, the school was facing a crisis of confidence due to controversies which erupted under the previous administration. As president, Maxwell immediately addressed the controversy and set out on a mission to rebuild confidence in the school. A prodigious fundraiser, he focussed much of his efforts in that area. Within two years of his arrival on campus, the school completed construction of the science complex and Chan Shun Hall, a previously stalled building project. As president, he was noted for his "ready smile, down-to-earth advice, and folksy family" speeches. Upon retirement from an 18-year tenure as president in 2001, Maxwell became the first president to be designated president

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

by the Pacific Union College Board.

Retirement and death

Following his retirement from the Presidency in 2001, Maxwell continued as a Professor in the Religion Department at Pacific Union College until 2006. Following his full retirement in April 2007, Maxwell and his wife, Eileen, were in the process of moving to Scottsdale,

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when his wife Eileen died. He soon came down with

Lou Gehrig disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control Skeletal muscle, voluntary muscles. ALS ...

which moved with dismaying speed until his death at the age of 73 in October of the same year.

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20111018040945/http://www.adventistreview.org/article.php?id=1409 * http://www.puc.edu/news/archives/2007/losing-an-icon-malcolm-maxwell * http://www.angwinreporter.com/2007/AR11/index.html * http://www.wallawalla.edu/about-wwu/news/article/view/saying-goodbye/
Uncle Arthur website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, Malcolm Pacific Union College presidents 20th-century American educators American Seventh-day Adventists Pacific Union College alumni Andrews University alumni Drew University alumni 1934 births 2007 deaths Union College (Nebraska) faculty British emigrants to the United States