Michael P. Malone
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Michael Peter Malone (April 18, 1940 – December 21, 1999) was an American
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
who served from 1991 to 1999 as the 10th president of
Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...
. One of Montana's preeminent historians and writers, he was named by both ''
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'' and the ''
Great Falls Tribune The ''Great Falls Tribune'' is a daily morning newspaper printed in Helena, Montana. It is one of Montana's largest newspaper companies. History The first edition of the newspaper then called the ''Weekly Tribune'' was printed on May 14, 188 ...
'' newspapers as one of the 100 most influential Montanans of the 20th century. His ''Montana: A History of Two Centuries'' (co-written with Richard B. Roeder) was called the "definitive history of the state" by the ''
Bozeman Daily Chronicle The ''Bozeman Daily Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper published in Bozeman, Montana. Founded in 1883, the paper was originally a weekly. Since 1996, the ''Chronicle'' has been published each morning, and its first Saturday edition was published in ...
''."Obituary for Michael P. Malone." ''Bozeman Daily Chronicle.'' December 21, 1999.
Accessed 2013-08-10.


Early life

Malone was born on April 18, 1940, in
Pomeroy, Washington Pomeroy is a city in Garfield County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,425 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of and only incorporated city in Garfield County. Geography Pomeroy is located at (46.473334, -117.598119). A ...
, to John and Delores (Cheyne) Malone."Michael P. Malone, 59, Native of Pomeroy." ''Lewiston Morning Tribune.'' December 24, 1999."Dolores Malone Chard, 84, Pomeroy Homemaker." ''Lewiston Morning Tribune.'' May 27, 1998. His father was the son of a farmer who (with his brothers) owned several farms in
Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his human ...
,
Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to: * Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named * Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...
, and Whitman counties. The Malones were of
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
descent, and Michael was deeply proud of his heritage. His mother, Delores, was born in
Zillah, Washington Zillah is a city in Yakima County, Washington, United States, with a population of 3,179 as of the 2020 census. History Zillah was founded in 1891 following the completion of the Sunnyside Canal project, an irrigation scheme delivering water fr ...
, and his parents married on November 14, 1936. Malone's father managed McKeirnan Hardware and Implement in Pomeroy, and attended Holy Rosary Catholic Church. Michael was the Malone's only child. However, in 1954, the Malones' close friends, Jack and Kathryn Bowman, died in an automobile accident. The Malones then raised the Bowmans' four children, Ray, Wynn, Kevin, and Jennie. Michael Malone considered them his half-siblings. As a teenager, he worked harvesting
pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
s for the
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vegetable company. Michael "had an especially close relationship with his father", and he had a significant influence on Michael.Mullen, Pierce. "Homage to the Life and Memory of Michael Peter Malone, 1940-1999." ''The Montana Professor.'' 10:1 (Winter 2000).
Accessed 2013-08-10.
Michael Malone later said his father was the "finest man he ever knew". John Malone suffered from severe cardiac problems in the 1960s, which worried Michael a great deal. John Malone died in 1972, and Michael believed that he lost a great deal from losing his father at an early age. Malone's mother married Ronald L. Chard of Pomeroy in 1974. She died at the age of 84 in May 1998, just 18 months before her son. Malone enrolled at
Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the univ ...
in
Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...
. His initially had a
pre-law In the United States, pre-law refers to any course of study taken by an undergraduate in preparation for study at a law school. The American Bar Association requires law schools to admit only students with an accredited Bachelor's Degree or its ...
major, but changed his major to
history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
during his sophomore year. "I just liked the subject," he said. "I thought it would be fun to make a career of doing for others what (historians) were doing for me."Schontzler, Gail. "MSU President Mike Malone Dies." ''Bozeman Daily Chronicle.'' December 21, 1999.
Accessed 2013-08-10.
He graduated
magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...
with a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
."Garfield County Native Named MSU President." ''Lewiston Morning Tribune.'' November 6, 1991. He then enrolled in the doctorate program in
American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Sch ...
at
Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...
in
Pullman, Washington Pullman () is the largest city in Whitman County, located in southeastern Washington within the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. The population was 29,799 at the 2010 census, and estimated to be 34,506 in 2019. Originally founded as Thr ...
, graduating with a
Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
in 1966.


Academic career

Malone sought and won a teaching position at
Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
for the 1966–1967 school year. He left Texas A&M and took a position as an assistant history professor at Montana State University in the fall of 1967. He was promoted to associate professor in 1970 and professor in 1973. He was named head of the Department of History and Philosophy in 1976. Three years later, he was appointed dean of graduate studies for the entire university. He was appointed director of the
Burton K. Wheeler Burton Kendall Wheeler (February 27, 1882January 6, 1975) was an attorney and an American politician of the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in Montana, which he represented as a United States Senate, United State ...
Center at MSU in 1987, and served in that position until 1990. He resigned as dean of graduate studies in 1988 after being named interim vice president for academic affairs. He was reappointed interim vice president twice more, in 1989 and 1990. During his academic career at MSU, Malone wrote seven books. His 1989 book, ''The American West'' (co-authored with Richard W. Etulain) was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. By 1990, he was working on a biography of
James J. Hill James Jerome Hill (September 16, 1838 – May 29, 1916) was a Canadian-American railroad director. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwes ...
, the late 19th and early 20th century railroad executive whose Great Northern Railway played a critical role in the economic expansion of Montana. He also traveled widely across Montana, lecturing in many of the state's small towns on Montana history. In 1972 and 1973, he and fellow MSU professor of history Richard Roeder traveled across the state to educate citizens about the newly created Montana Committee for the Humanities (now known as Humanities Montana), which greatly enhanced public participation in the agency's programs. He also lectured extensively throughout the
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
on a variety of topics in the history of the American West.Cantrell, Anne. "President Michael P. Malone Heritage." Office of the President. Montana State University. No date.
Accessed 2013-08-11.
As dean of graduate studies, Malone was critical of what he perceived as the state's lack of foresight regarding higher education. He told the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' that the state legislature was unwilling to invest in academic disciplines that would help build the technology sector, and generally failed to invest in higher education as a whole. He also criticized the state for failing to teach business skills and entrepreneurship. "We're victims of the old mind-set, that any corporation heading for Montana must be bent on rape. Montana is the last of the Old West and we're in crisis and we're not doing the most obvious things that have to be done," he said. "We're trying to preserve a unique life style and trying to put our feet into the future at the same time. So far we really haven't come to terms with the conflict this creates." In 1987, Malone pressed the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
to make "tuition-remission" scholarships tax-exempt, so that more students would be encouraged to seek graduate education.


Montana State University presidency


Appointment

Montana State University president
William Tietz William John Tietz Jr. (pronounced ''TEE-tz''; March 6, 1927 – June 10, 2020) was an American veterinarian who was Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University from 1971 to 1977 and president o ...
announced his retirement at the end of 1990. Malone was unanimously named MSU's acting president on January 1, 1991, at a salary of $86,000 per year. After a nationwide search, the board of regents of the Montana University System narrowed the list of finalists to three: Malone; Dr. Harold Allen, vice president for graduate studies, research and economic development at the
University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...
; and Dr. Rex Cottle, dean of the School of Business at the
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...
(and later president of
Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the fall of 2021, th ...
in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
). In March 1991, Malone was named MSU's 10th president.


Presidential achievements

Malone was the first MSU president to preside over the Billings, Great Falls, and Havre campuses. He subsequently appointed the first chancellors of the three major campuses in 1995: Ron Sexton at
Montana State University Billings Montana State University Billings (or MSU Billings) is a public university in Billings, Montana. It is the state's third largest university. Its campus is located on 110 acres in downtown Billings. Formerly Eastern Montana Normal School at its ...
, Will Weaver at
Great Falls College Montana State University Great Falls College–Montana State University is a public community college in Great Falls, Montana. It is affiliated with the Montana State University System The Montana University System (MUS) was created on July 1, 1994, when the Montana ...
, and William Daehling at
Montana State University–Northern Montana State University–Northern (MSU–Northern or Northern) is a public college in Havre, Montana. It is part of the Montana University System and was Northern Montana College prior to the restructuring of Montana's public university syste ...
. He also appointed the second chancellor at MSU-Northern,
Michael Rao Michael Rao is an American academic administrator who is the current president of Virginia Commonwealth University, a public university in downtown Richmond, Virginia. During his time as president, Rao has overseen hiring and expansion of the uni ...
. Malone's governance style was democratic and personal. Faculty, employee, and student leaders agreed that he sought input and consensus on decisions. Malone was personable and friendly to faculty, workers, and students alike. His willingness to talk one-on-one with clerical staff was "unusual", according to university registrar Chuck Nelson. Malone's friendly style extended to his relationship with the state legislature as well. Tom Stump, MSU's vice president for finances, said Malone was personally quite popular with legislators and their staff. MSU's chief lobbyist, Cathy Conover, also noted that Malone sought to provide the legislature with the right information and an honest assessment, which earned him a great deal of personal respect. During Malone's presidency, Montana State University witnessed "one of the greatest expansions in campus history", as a large number of new buildings were constructed. These included the $1 million Centennial Mall (1993), the $22 million Engineering and Physical Sciences Building (1997), the $10 million Bobcat Stadium renovation, the $13.5 million renovation of
Brick Breeden Fieldhouse The Brick Breeden Fieldhouse is a multi-purpose indoor arena located on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. It is the home of the Montana State Bobcats of the Big Sky Conference; the primary venue for men's and women's b ...
, the $12 million Agricultural Biosciences Building (1999), and the $7.5 million Renne Library renovation (1999). The refurbishment of the two athletics buildings was especially important. Bruce Parker, MSU's associated athletics director, said funding for these projects was directly attributable to the president: "None of the athletics renovations would have happened without Mike Malone". The stadium renovation included new public-area seating, three tiers of skyboxes, and a camera deck to permit televising of games. Inside the stadium were a new second-floor banquet room, third-floor bar and concessions area, and handicapped-accessible seating, doors, restrooms, and other areas throughout the structure. Every skybox contained indoor seating for 12, outdoor seating for 12 (with overhead radiant heating elements), and blue-and-gold floor tiled wet bars, and cost $7,000 to construct. Two-thirds of the skyboxes had been rented by the time the renovations were complete. In 1999, Malone fired Bobcats football head coach Cliff Hysell after eight losing seasons. Malone hired
Mike Kramer Michael David Kramer (born July 25, 1955) is a former American football coach and former player, most recently the head football coach at Idaho State University of the Big Sky Conference. Kramer was previously the head coach at two other schools ...
, the winning coach at
Eastern Washington University Eastern Washington University (EWU) is a public university in Cheney, Washington. It also offers programs at a campus in EWU Spokane at the Riverpoint Campus and other campus locations throughout the state. Founded in 1882, the university is ...
. Research and enrollment were other areas where Malone achieved success. He pushed hard for faculty and the university to seek and win federal funding for scientific research. The success here was significant: Federal research funding grew from just $13 million in the late 1980s to more than $50 million in 1999. The undergraduate curriculum was revamped, and he pushed a program to "guarantee" that each student could graduate within four years. Under Malone's leadership, enrollment at Montana State University hit a historic high of 11,746 students in 1999. Consistent with his earlier focus on technology development and education, he also established the Burns Telecommunications Center. Financial pressures were heavy during Malone's tenure. He reenergized and expanded alumni fund-raising programs and worked to have alumni become more active in campus life, and pushed the MSU Foundation to redouble its fund-raising efforts. But the state legislature kept funding for salaries stagnant. At the start of his presidency, faculty salaries were 25 percent lower than those at comparable universities. Clerical and administrative support staff represented by
MEA-MFT The Montana Federation of Public Employees (MFPE) is a Montana labor union. Its 23,000 members make it the largest union in the state. MFPE is a public employee union with a diverse membership embracing public school teachers and classified person ...
struck for higher pay in 1992, and Malone lobbied the state legislature for higher clerical/administrative pay in 1998.


Scandals

Two minor scandals hit Montana State University during Malone's tenure: The
College National Finals Rodeo {{Unreferenced, date=October 2021 The College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR), sanctioned by the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA), is held every June. Since 1999, the CNFR has been held at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyoming. B ...
declined to return to MSU, and two women's basketball coaches were fired for violating
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
rules. Malone's consensus-building governance style was apparent in both cases, according to vice president for student affairs Allen Yarnell. College National Finals Rodeo
From 1971 to 1996, the College National Finals Rodeo was held every year at the MSU campus in Bozeman."College National Finals Rodeo Not Returning to Bozeman." ''Associated Press.'' October 3, 1998. For years, the
U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company (formerly United States Tobacco Company) manufactures smokeless tobacco products, notably dipping tobacco, but also chewing tobacco, snus, and dry snuff and is a subsidiary of Altria. Its corporate headquarters a ...
had distributed free samples of Skoal and
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
dipping tobacco Dipping tobacco is a type of finely ground or shredded, moistened smokeless tobacco product. It is commonly and idiomatically known as "dip". Dipping tobacco is used by placing a pinch, or "dip", of tobacco between the lip and the gum (sublabia ...
to students at the event."Montana State Not Giving Up On Luring College National Finals Rodeo." ''Associated Press.'' September 5, 1998. The event moved away from MSU in 1997 after 1996 attendance fell 3,000 short of the 25,000-attendee goal. During that year, Malone held meetings during which it was decided that, should the
rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...
finals return, smokeless tobacco products could no longer be distributed on campus. The consensus was that this was not a controversial issue."College Rodeo Site Smoked Over Chewing Tobacco Flap." ''Chicago Tribune.'' September 4, 1998; "National Rodeo Group Nixes College Site After Tobacco Giveaway Flap." ''Associated Press.'' September 4, 1998. But in late August 1998, the
National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA), based in Walla Walla, Washington, was established in 1949. The NIRA sanctions more than 100 college rodeos every year in the United States, and represents over 3,500 student athletes attending ...
(NIRA) voted unanimously to not return to Bozeman due to the no-tobacco-handouts rule. MSU rodeo coach John Larick public voiced his opposition to Malone's decision, which he called "disgusting". The Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce also expressed its unhappiness, as the event brought about $1.2 million a year to the local economy. MSU and Bozeman business leaders attempted to compromise with the NIRA by offering to permit distribution of coupons for free or discounted tobacco products. Malone expressed his willingness to compromise, so long as tobacco was not distributed free. Despite local business opposition to the university's decision, Malone said he had received 20 positive and 13 negative comments from the public, and would stand firm. But on October 2, 1998, NIRA reaffirmed its decision not to return to Bozeman. The association said U.S. Smokeless Tobacco donated $200,000 in rodeo scholarships each year, and it would not alienate this sponsor. MSU vice president Glenn Lewis expressed his view that NIRA never seriously considered the coupon alternative. Women's basketball
On October 31, 1999, Malone fired MSU women's basketball head coach Tracey Sheehan and assistant coach Jeff Malby. Complaints by student-athletes, athletics department personnel, students' doctors, and team trainers led to an NCAA investigation into charges that the two coaches were overworking their team. The NCAA found that athletes were required to engage in pre-season practice longer than the eight hours per week allowed by the NCAA. (In some cases, athletes were required to practice 16 hours a week or more.) Coaches demanded that athletes return to practice before injuries were fully healed, an excessive number of "overuse injuries" were occurring, and coaches disregarded the welfare of the athletes in their care. (NCAA rules forbid excessive practice that results in stress injuries or overuse injuries, and require coaches to follow doctors' advice when seeking to return an athlete to active status.) As many as 15 athletes on the Lady Bobcats team had overuse injuries such as
stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running or ...
s and
tendonitis Tendinopathy, a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder (rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow (tennis elb ...
. The NCAA also found that the two coaches regularly exceeded the number of allowable hours for "athletically related activities" and failed to provide the mandatory "positive relationship between student athletes and coach...by engaging in activities which are ..conducive to the welfare of student athletes"."MSU Women's Basketball Coaches Sheehan, Malby Fired." ''Associated Press.'' November 1, 1999. The NCAA permitted Montana State to impose its own sanctions on the women's basketball program.


Criticisms

Although widely considered a successful president and very well-liked, Malone received criticism in several areas. In 2009, MSU chief legislative lobbyist Cathy Conover said that relations with the state legislature had been somewhat poor under Malone (although she did not name him explicitly). She expressed her opinion that MSU officials talked too much about how little money they had, and criticized the legislature too much for not investing in higher education. She believed that Malone's successor,
Geoffrey Gamble Geoffrey Gamble (born 1942) is an American linguist who served from 2000 to 2009 as the 11th president of Montana State University. Early life Gamble was born in 1942 and raised on a farm near Fresno, California.
, had a far more positive style that was "a sea change" and which led the
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
-dominated state legislature to rave about him.Schontzler, Gail. "Geoff Gamble - A Hard Act to Follow." ''Bozeman Daily Chronicle.'' August 29, 2009. Gamble himself implicitly criticized some of Malone's financial decisions. The football stadium renovations, he noted, had gone ahead even though MSU did not have the money in-hand to pay for them. That, he noted, was a common budgetary tactic at MSU. One of the first financial rules Gamble laid down when his presidency began was to pledge that the university would not initiate projects without having the money to complete them. Others also questions Malone's financial priorities. Tuition doubled during his time in office, angering students. Some faculty criticized his willingness to construct new buildings while declining to pay for teaching equipment (copiers and projectors) and maintenance (such as fixing broken or defective thermostats). According to the ''
Bozeman Daily Chronicle The ''Bozeman Daily Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper published in Bozeman, Montana. Founded in 1883, the paper was originally a weekly. Since 1996, the ''Chronicle'' has been published each morning, and its first Saturday edition was published in ...
'', Malone tried to respond to these criticisms by rescinding some budget cuts, and by creating a new faculty/student/worker budget committee to make recommendations about spending priorities.


Death

Malone was diagnosed with
cardiomyopathy Cardiomyopathy is a group of diseases that affect the heart muscle. Early on there may be few or no symptoms. As the disease worsens, shortness of breath, feeling tired, and swelling of the legs may occur, due to the onset of heart failure. A ...
in 1995. According to physicians, his heart was damaged by an undetected viral infection some years earlier, and was greatly enlarged and weakened. Michael P. Malone died at 1:15 a.m. at
Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (Gallatin Field) is located in Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, ...
. He had traveled to Washington State University, where officials were trying to recruit him for the open university presidency there. Malone, however, had expressed his desire to remain at MSU. He exited the airport parking lot in his own vehicle, and suffered
sudden cardiac death Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...
after driving just a few yards. His vehicle struck a
street light A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...
and came to a stop. Other passengers on the flight stopped and rendered
first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...
. The Belgrade Fire Department,
Montana Highway Patrol The Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) is the highway patrol agency for the U.S. state of Montana, which has jurisdiction anywhere in the state over Montana Traffic law. History The Montana Highway Patrol was founded in 1935 after Montana led the nat ...
, and a local ambulance crew all responded to the scene.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spont ...
(CPR) was administered, and paramedics attempted to
defibrillate Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and ventricular tachycardia, non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric curren ...
him with electric shocks. These efforts failed, and he was pronounced dead of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
at 1:15 A.M. His funeral was a private
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
funeral
Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
, and he was buried in the Catholic section of Sunset Hills Cemetery.


Other roles

Malone was active in history, professional, and other organizations throughout his life. He was a member of the board of directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land-grant Colleges (now known as the
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) is a research, policy, and advocacy organization of public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems, and higher education organizations. It has member ca ...
), and was chair of its International Commission. He was also a board member of the Commission on Colleges of the
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) is an independent, non-profit membership organization recognized by the United States Department of Education since 1952 as an institutional accreditor for colleges and universities. ...
and the Western Association of Graduate Schools. In addition to his many roles at Montana State University, he also served on the board of directors of the Montana State University Foundation and the board of trustees of the
Museum of the Rockies Museum of the Rockies is a museum in Bozeman, Montana. Originally affiliated with Montana State University in Bozeman, and now also, the Smithsonian Institution, the museum is largely known for its paleontological collections. The Museum houses ...
. Malone served his profession in a wide range of ways. he was a member of the board of directors of the
Montana Historical Society The Montana Historical Society (MHS) is a historical society located in the U.S. state of Montana that acts to preserve historical resources important to the understanding of Montana history. The society provides services through six operational ...
, the executive council of the
Western History Association The Western History Association (WHA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was founded in 1961 at Santa Fe, New Mexico by Ray Allen Billington et al. Included in the field of study are the American West and western Canada. The Western History ...
, the Montana Committee for the Humanities, and the Montana Bicentennial Commission. He was also a member of the editorial board of ''
Montana, The Magazine of Western History ''Montana: The Magazine of Western History'' (formerly ''The Montana Magazine of History'') is a quarterly journal published by the Montana Historical Society. It publishes articles about the history of Montana as well as the western United Sta ...
'', ''
Pacific Northwest Quarterly ''Pacific Northwest Quarterly'' (commonly referred to as ''PNQ'') is a peer-reviewed academic journal of history that publishes scholarship relating to the Pacific Northwest of the United States, including Alaska, and adjacent areas of western Can ...
'', and the ''
Pacific Historical Review The ''Pacific Historical Review'' is the official publication of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association. It is a quarterly academic journal published by University of California Press. It was established in 1932 under foun ...
''.


Legacy

Michael P. Malone was widely respected as a historian of Montana and the American West. The ''Great Falls Tribune'' and ''The Missoulian'', two large Montana newspapers, each named him one of the 100 most influential Montanans of the 20th century. He was regularly interviewed in print and on television on various history subjects, including a lengthy segment for the
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
documentary series, ''The Irish in America''. His popularity at MSU led to several awards and honors from the college. In 1999, the university established the Michael P. Malone Professor of History endowed chair in his honor. Nearly $50,000 was raised for the endowment in the first week after his death. Dr. Billy G. Smith was named the first Malone Professor of History in 2002. (The title is awarded for three years, and the incumbent may not seek an immediate second term.) In 1988, a bronze cast was made of the "Wankel Rex", a nearly-complete fossil skeleton of a ''
Tyrannosaurus rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' live ...
'' held by the Museum of the Rockies. It was the first full-scale bronze skeleton of a dinosaur in the world, and was erected at the entrance of the museum. It was named "Big Mike" in his honor in 2002. In 2010, MSU renamed the Centennial Mall the Michael Malone Centennial Mall to recognize his efforts which led to its construction.Schontzler, Gail. "Mike Malone Remembered for Making History at Montana State University, Remaking Western History." ''Bozeman Daily Chronicle.'' September 30, 2011.
Accessed 2013-08-10.
In 2011, Malone was named as one of Montana State's most important presidents—following in the footsteps of
William Tietz William John Tietz Jr. (pronounced ''TEE-tz''; March 6, 1927 – June 10, 2020) was an American veterinarian who was Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University from 1971 to 1977 and president o ...
—by MSU historians Jeffrey Safford,
Pierce Mullen Pierce Mullen (March 4, 1934– March 16, 2022) was a professor of history at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana and was a participant in the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation and the Quest for Knowledge Club. Personal life Pi ...
, and Robert Rydell in an interview with the
Bozeman Daily Chronicle The ''Bozeman Daily Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper published in Bozeman, Montana. Founded in 1883, the paper was originally a weekly. Since 1996, the ''Chronicle'' has been published each morning, and its first Saturday edition was published in ...
.
Montana State University Archives and Special Collections The Montana State University Archives and Special Collections, also known as the Merrill G. Burlingame Archives and Special Collections, is located in Bozeman, Montana. The archives is on the second floor of the Renne Library on the Montana State U ...
holds the Michael P. Malone Papers, which consists of correspondence and research materials. Other organizations have also honored Malone. In 2000, the National Association of State Universities and Land-grant Colleges established the Michael P. Malone International Leadership Award to recognize individuals who make outstanding contributions in international education. The same year, the Montana Ambassadors organization named its Educator of the Year award for Malone. In 2002, the Western History Association established the Michael P. Malone Award for the best published article, commentary, or essay on state, provincial, or territorial history in North America. Journalist Rick Allen won the first $500 Malone Award in 2002 for his article on the
Montana Vigilantes The history of vigilante justice and the Montana Vigilantes began in 1863 in what was at the time a remote part of eastern Idaho Territory. Vigilante activities continued, although somewhat sporadically, through the Montana Territorial period un ...
.


Publications

At the time of his death, Malone had written nine books and 20 articles. Among these were ''Montana: A History of Two Centuries'', co-written with Richard B. Roeder. It was first published in 1976 and a revised edition (co-written with William L. Lang) issued in 1992. One Montana newspaper called it "the standard text on state history". Malone published ''The Battle for Butte'' in 1981. Lang, professor of history at
Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...
, called it " e of Malone's most important books" because it focused less on biography and parochially on
Butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...
and analyzed the broader trends and pressures being exerted by emerging national corporations and economic consolidation. His last work was ''Montana Century'', a richly photographed
coffee table book A coffee table book, also known as a cocktail table book, is an oversized, usually hard-covered book whose purpose is for display on a table intended for use in an area in which one entertains guests and from which it can serve to inspire convers ...
public in October 1999. It sold 13,000 copies in its first three months and by December 1999 was in its third printing. In 1989, Malone and co-author Richard W. Etulain finished ''The American West''. It was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. When he died, Malone had a contract with
Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...
to write a new book re-conceptualizing the history of the American West. Malone had a reputation as an excellent scholar and writer. Retired MSU professor of history Jeffrey Safford noted that Malone tended to synthesize the work of others with his own research, and was much more interested in the exercise of power than mere "who" and "where". Journalist and author
Timothy Egan Timothy P. Egan (born November 8, 1954) is an American author, journalist and op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times'', writing from a liberal perspective. Egan has written nine books. His first, ''The Good Rain'', won the Pacific Northwest B ...
, writing for the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' in 1993, argued that Malone avoided both the traditional cowboys-and-Indians view of the American West as well as the
historical revisionism In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) views held by professional scholars about a historical event or times ...
of "New West" historians. Malone argued for a return to source materials such as diaries and memoirs of the time, which neither treated settlers and Native Americans as if they were in a
John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...
movie nor made them out to be homogeneous outcasts. Original source materials, he argued, showed the West to be diverse and much more interesting than the more common depiction of white hard-scrabble farmers made it out to be. According to Lang, Malone's emphasis on national and global factors in the history of the American West was controversial. Yet, it also had a significant impact at larger, reputable university history departments at
Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
and
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. Malone did not stop practicing his profession once he became a university administrator. Although he did not have as much time to conduct research and write as he was promoted, Safford characterized Malone's professional output as a university president as "absolutely extraordinary."


Published books

*''The Search for Paradigm in Western American History, 1930-2000'' (in progress, 1999; unfinished) *''Montana Century: 100 Years in Pictures and Words'' (1999); editor *''Montana: A Contemporary Profile'' (1997) *''James J. Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest'' (1996) *''The American West: A Twentieth Century History'' (1989) with Richard W. Etulain *'' Historians and the American West'' (1983) with
Rodman W. Paul Rodman Wilson Paul (1912–1987) was an American historian who taught at the California Institute of Technology. He was known primarily as a foremost authority on California mining and agricultural Native American history. Life and career Paul ...
*''The Battle for Butte: Mining and Politics on the Northern Frontier'' (1981) *''Montana: A History of Two Centuries'' (1976) with Richard B. Roeder (1st ed.); with Roeder and William L. Lang (2d ed.) *''Montana As It Was, 1876: A Centennial Overview'' (1975) with Richard B. Roeder *''C. Ben Ross and the New Deal in Idaho (1970); editor *''The Montana Past: An Anthology'' (1969); editor with Richard B. Roeder


Personal life

Michael P. Michael married Kathleen Campbell on April 18, 1983. He already had two children, Molly and Thomas. He became a stepfather to Kathy's children Clint, Molly, and Wendy. He was survived in death by his wife, Kathy; his two children and three stepchildren, his stepfather, and his four foster siblings.


References


External links


Michael P. Malone Papers, 1962-2000. Collection 2442. Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections. Renne Library. Montana State University.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Malone, Michael P. 1940 births 1999 deaths Presidents of Montana State University People from Pomeroy, Washington Gonzaga University alumni Washington State University alumni Historians of Montana Historians of the American West American people of Irish descent Writers from Bozeman, Montana 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Catholics from Washington (state) Catholics from Montana Historians from Washington (state) 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American academics