Bowling Green State University, Office of the President (Ralph W. McDonald) records

Ralph Waldo McDonald was born March 1, 1903 in Gallatin County, Illinois. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in 1925 from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. At Duke University, he earned both his Master's and doctoral degrees (1933, in educational psychology) and attended law school, later serving as a member of the North Carolina legislature. A member of Phi Beta Kappa and active in many professional associations relating to higher education, Dr. McDonald served as executive secretary of the Department of Higher Education of the National Education Association for seven years before accepting the presidency at BGSU.

The Board of Trustees approved a leave of absence for Dr. McDonald following his resignation as president and retained his position as a professor of higher education. After leaving the university, McDonald served as executive director of the National Committee for the Support of Public Schools in Washington, D.C. Upon his retirement from that position in 1965, he and his wife lived in Florida for ten years, retiring to Arkansas in 1975. Dr. McDonald died in January, 1977.

McDonald's Term as BGSU President

Dr. Ralph McDonald became Bowling Green State University’s fourth president in 1951 and served until 1961. During his ten-year presidency, student enrollment nearly doubled and the total campus acreage increased from 240 acres to 600 acres. In addition, McDonald oversaw the construction of ten new buildings and the renovation of many others.

At the outset of Dr. McDonald's presidency, lack of on-campus housing was a major problem. In response to this need, Rodgers, Founders, Conklin Quadrangles, and the Alice Prout Residence Hall were constructed. In addition, the University Union, Memorial Hall (housing Anderson Arena), West Hall, and South Hall were completed. By the end of Dr. McDonald’s term, all but one of the temporary buildings put in place during World War II had been eliminated or replaced. The total cost of all this building construction and renovation amounted to almost $35 million.

Dr. McDonald’s experience and qualifications marked him as someone who would move Bowling Green State University from its traditional role as a teacher training college to a full-fledged liberal arts university, preparing its graduates for leadership in a troubled and complex world. With this goal in mind, Dr. McDonald sought to increase the number of faculty holding Ph.D. degrees who were active in research and publication, in addition to classroom teaching. During this time there was a movement at universities across the United States aimed at providing faculty and students with greater liberty and opportunities to influence university policy. In contrast, Dr. McDonald viewed the role of university president as strongly authoritative. Controversies inevitably flared from time to time, and faculty and student morale suffered. Over the years, the situation worsened, culminating in student demonstrations in 1961 and numerous faculty petitions. Dr. McDonald resigned the office of president in 1961.