MacGREGOR, Dr. Jay B.

MACGREGOR, VASEY, RAE, MAGEE, KELLEY

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 11/11/2014 at 03:03:19

The Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
Saturday, November 02, 1940, Page 5

THEY STARTED HRE
No. 36 in a Mason City Series of Success Stories

Jay B. MacGregor, College Dean

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It has been said that education is the foundation of democracy, and most persons after a few moments' reflection will agree to that.

And that's why men like Doctor Jay B. MacGregor, former Mason City junior college dean and now dean of Cornell College at Mt. Vernon, are important, for they are laying the foundation of tomorrow's democratic United States and at the same time are strengthening the bases of today's structure.

Doctor MacGregor would be among the first to depreciate his importance in the educational world, but no one can depreciate the importance of the work he is doing in handling much of the administrative detail of one of the finest small colleges in the middle west.

* * *
Doctor MacGregor was born at Atlantic 45 years ago, Feb. 21, 1895. He was educated in the public schools there until he was 10 years old, when the family moved to North Iowa, settling in Eagle Grove. Jay MacGregor completed his elemenatry and high school work there, being graduated from the Eagle Grove high school in 1912. In 1913 he entered another outstanding small college, Grinnell, and attended school there until 1917.

In May of that year, Jay B. MacGregor volunteered for service in th U. S. army and served in the armed forces until December, 1918, being granduated in absentia from Grinnell during 1918.

* * *
Earlier he had picked up some experience in the business world, having gone to work following his graduation from high school in 192 for the A. J. Reitz clothing company at Eagle Grove. When the clothing firm was purchased by the Gildner compnay, he became an employe (sic) of that company.

At one time after the war he was employed in the Gildner store in Mason City, making many friends here and laying the foundation for the teaching career that was to come.

It was his contacts with the late Frank Vasey and with James Rae that led him in 1921 to decide upon a teaching career.

So he left Gildners in 1922 to begin his studies at Iowa City and to prepare himself to teach. In 1925 after spending his summers studying at Iowa city, the North Iowan received his master's degree and returned to Mason City to begin his duties as dean of the local junior college.

* * *
Speaking of the time he spent teaching here, Dr. MacGregor says, "All of my time spent in the Mason City school system, in the high school and the junior college, was stimulating and profitable to me. Some of my most cherished memories cluster around the splendid experiences I had there with faculty colleages and with as fine a group of boys and girls I have ever met."

During his time here Doctor MacGregor had been continuing his studies with the idea in mind of earning a Ph. D. In 1928 he returned to Iowa to study for his doctorate and in 1931 was awarded that degree.

As Doctor MacGregor, the former Mason cityan, accepted a position as professor of education and head of that department at James Millikan university at Decatur, Ill., from 1931 to 1933. The following year he went to Eastern Illinois State Teachers' college at Charleston, Ill., as an associate professor of education.

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His connection at Eastern Illinois Teachers was an unusual one, for the president of that school, Robert G. Buzzard, was an old soldiering mate and the friendship formed in the army had become stronger through the years.

In 1937, the former North Iowan returned to his native state when he accepted the post of dean at Cornell. In addition he holds the post of professor of psychology, keeping his hand in the teaching game as well as doing strictly administrative work.

And there at Cornell, Doctor MacGregor's work has won the recognition of some fine educators, including a man well known in Mason City, Dr. John Benjamin Magee. This year, Doctor MacGregor was made assistant to the president in additon to his other duties.

* * *
The educator is married to a Mason Cityan, the former Miss Helen Kelley, whom he met while in school at Grinnell. They are the parents of two children, Mary, a senior in the Mt. Vernon high school, and John, a senior at Cornell College.

Unspectacular, maybe, this story. But it's solid. It's a story of building - building minds and building character. And it's the story of a democracy and a nation. The part that Jay B. MacGregor plays in it is not significant in iteself, but as a symbol, it's vitally important. For his is the tale of hard work for nominal pay. And it's the foundation of a better society in the days to come.

~ ~ ~ ~
The Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
June 22, 1964, Page 10

Reunions highlight June Weekend Class of '24 together

Mason City High School class of '24 had 125 members and guests present for its 40th reunion Saturday at the Hotel Hanford.

. . . .A greeting was on display from the class sponsor, Dr. Jay B. MacGregor, who lives in Spain where he is doing U.S. Air Force dependents high school work.

Photograph courtesy of Globe-Gazette

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, November of 2014

Cerro Gordo Biographies maintained by Lynn Diemer-Mathews.
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