Malcolm MacVicar

Born in Dunglass, Argyllshire, Scotland, MacVicar's parents emigrated to Canada when he was young.

[1] He served for a time as a ship's carpenter in Cleveland, Ohio, before becoming a Baptist minister and eventually attending the University of Rochester, from which he graduated in 1859.

[4] [I]t is one thing to give young men and women such industrial training as will fit them to earn successfully a good livelihood; and yet quite another thing to imbue them with a missionary spirit, and fit them to be instructors and leaders of others.

[7] MacVicar then served as the first chancellor of the newly formed McMaster University,[8] leading the school from 1888 until 1890.

[9] MacVicar left McMaster to become the superintendent of education for the American Baptist Home Mission Society,[8] which founded a number of historically black colleges and universities.

MacVicar said that "it is one thing to give young men and women such industrial training as will fit them to earn successfully a good livelihood; and yet quite another thing to imbue them with a missionary spirit, and fit them to be instructors and leaders of others.

[10] MacVicar Hospital, at Spelman College, is also named for him, owing to his involvement with the American Baptist Home Mission Society.