Murdoch Maxwell MacOdrum (May 30, 1901 – August 1, 1955) was the second president of Carleton College (later

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

) in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Born in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, MacOdrum got his B.A. from

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

in 1923, his MA in 1925 from

McGill McGill is a surname of Scottish and Irish origin, from which the names of many places and organizations are derived. It may refer to: People * McGill (surname) (including a list of individuals with the surname) * McGill family (Monrovia), a promin ...

and a PhD in English from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. In 1935 he was ordained as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

minister in Sydney, N.S., where he ministered for four years. After a stint at the Dominion Coal and Steel Co. in Sydney, MacOdrum came to Ottawa in 1944 to sell war bonds. There he was recruited by Carleton College's founder and president, Henry Marshall Tory, to be his executive assistant and eventual successor. MacOdrum became president upon Tory's death in 1947. MacOdrum successfully lobbied the Ontario government to give the young but as-yet-unrecognized college a charter and degree-granting powers, which it got in 1952. He also oversaw many of the land deals that would eventually lead to Carleton's move to a new Rideau River campus in 1958, though he died three years before that move actually took place. In his honour, the second building on the new campus was named the Maxwell MacOdrum Library. He died of a heart attack in 1955. Upon his death, MacOdrum was succeeded by acting president

James Alexander Gibson James Alexander Gibson (January 29, 1912 – October 23, 2003) was a Canadian academic, federal bureaucrat and private secretary to prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. Born in Ottawa and raised in Victoria, Gibson did his undergraduate ...

References

External links

Maxwell MacOdrum Library
Carleton University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Macodrum, Murdoch Maxwell Presidents of Carleton University People from the Cape Breton Regional Municipality Canadian Presbyterian ministers Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian Presbyterians Dalhousie University alumni Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 1901 births 1955 deaths

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