Hector Macpherson, Sr.

Hector Macpherson Sr. (April 22, 1875 – March 28, 1970) was a Canadian–American academic and politician of Scottish descent. An academic, politician, and dairy farmer in the state of Oregon, he was the father of Hector Macpherson Jr.

Biography Early life

Hector Macpherson Sr. was born April 22, 1875 in Dufferin County, Ontario, Canada. He was the son of Miriam Fairgrieve Macpherson and Alexander Macpherson, native-born Scots who had emigrated to Canada.

Academic career

Hector attended Queen's University, located in Kingston, Ontario, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He subsequently studied abroad at the University of Halle-Wittenberg and University of Berlin before returning to the United States to complete his Master of Arts degree in 1908 at the University of Chicago. As part of his three-month fact-finding tour, funded by the Oregon state legislature at the behest of the Oregon State Grange, Macpherson traveled to eight European countries studying the cooperative credit system as applied to agriculture.

Macpherson continued to teach economics and sociology ("political economy") at OAC until 1926.

Political career

He was first elected to the state Oregon House of Representatives in 1927 and reelected in 1929 as a progressive Republican. Together with Henry Zorn, Macpherson sponsored a School Moving Bill in 1932. The ballot initiative proposed consolidating Oregon State University with the University of Oregon, and moving other state-funded schools to different cities. The initiative proposal was defeated.

Macpherson was elected to a final term in 1939.