Malcolm MacLeod begins his history of Memorial University College by describing the forces that promoted the creation of Newfoundland's own higher-education institution and the conditions that frustrated its advancement, such as the uneasy development of educational co-operation between religious denominations. MacLeod goes on to analyse different aspects of institutional life to 1950, such as the institution's governance and patterns of staffing, the students' social backgrounds, and the college's curriculum. He also outlines Memorial's links with other aspects of society and provides the historical and social framework for its development, leading us through the optimism of the twenties and the depression of the thirties to the abandonment of self-government and the overwhelming changes that came with and after the war. He concludes by contrasting Memorial's slow and uncertain progress before 1950 with its achievements since, and by placing Memorial in the context of the development of higher education in Canada and the modernization of Newfoundland.

After growing up at Armdale (then a suburb, now part of Halifax, Nova Scotia), MacLeod gained a B.A. at Dalhousie University, M.A. at the University of Ottawa. He joined the faculty at Memorial University in 1968, left for a period of time and returned to stay 1978. He has just retired from Memorial's History Department.

Malcolm MacLeod's profile page

"The history of Memorial University College is an important element of Newfoundland history and of the history of higher education in North America ... [MacLeod] has carried out exhaustive research both in primary sources and through oral history interviews. It is clear that he has collected a wealth of significant original material." John Reid, Department of History, St Mary's University.