Robert W. MacVicar

Robert William MacVicar (1918–1998) was an American chemist and academic administrator who served as the chancellor of Southern Illinois University, and the 11th president of Oregon State University from 1970 and 1984.

Early life and education Robert W. MacVicar was born in Princeton, Minnesota, on September 28, 1918. MacVicar studied chemistry at the University of Wyoming, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1939. Upon graduation, MacVicar was awarded a Rhodes scholarship, but it proved impossible for him to attend due to the outbreak of World War II.

MacVicar spent the duration of the war as an officer in the United States Army. He left military service as a colonel in the United States Army Air Corps.

Following the conclusion of the war, MacVicar moved to Madison, Wisconsin, to attend the University of Wisconsin–Madison, from which he obtained a PhD in biochemistry in 1946.

Career After earning his doctorate, MacVicar returned to Stillwater to take a position as an assistant professor of agricultural chemistry research and chemistry, later gaining promotion to a full professorship. Under MacVicar's watch the total number of faculty at OSU expanded from 1,766 to 2,247, while the school's budget tripled.

After his retirement, he was named professor emeritus of chemistry and president emeritus, special assistant to the chancellor. He also served as acting president of the College of Ganado, a small college in Arizona, for seven months in 1985.

MacVicar published over 135 papers, reports and articles. His papers are archived in the Oregon State University library.

Footnotes

Works Feeding Trials with Mineral and Protein Supplements for Two-and Three-Year-Old Steers Wintering on Dry Grass. With Oscar Burr Ross and D.F. Stephens. Stillwater, OK: Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, 1950. Science is Everybody's Business. Oklahoma City, OK: United Founders Life Insurance Co., n.d. . Vitamin A Studies with Beef Cattle: A Summary of Experimental Studies Conducted at Oklahoma State University, 1946–1959. With L.S. Pope and Frank H. Baker. Stillwater, OK: Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, 1961.