John McCardell, Jr.

John Malcolm McCardell Jr. (born June 17, 1949) is an American historian and academic administrator. He served as the President of Middlebury College from 1992 to 2004 and as the Vice-Chancellor and President of Sewanee: The University of the South from 2010 to 2020.

As of 2023, he is a history professor at Sewanee.

Early life McCardell was born on June 17, 1949, in Frederick, Maryland. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1971. He earned a PhD in History from Harvard University in 1976. For his dissertation, The Idea of a Southern Nation, he was awarded the 1977 Allan Nevins Prize by the Society of American Historians.

Academic career McCardell joined the History department at Middlebury College in 1976 and was professor there until 2010. He later spearheaded the creation of the Amethyst Initiative, a statement of over 120 college presidents across the United States calling for reconsideration of drinking age laws.

Personal life McCardell has a wife, Bonnie Greenwald, and two sons.