Thomas Macbride
While Thomas Macbride was president of the University of Iowa for just two years, his impact was felt for decades across Iowa and the United States.
Macbride came to UI as a young assistant professor of natural science in 1878 after attending and teaching at Monmouth College in Illinois. He was named head of the Department of Botany in 1902 and was named acting president of the university in 1914 after the resignation of John G. Bowman. The position became permanent a few months later.
An early advocate of preservation, he was the first president of the Iowa Park and Forestry Association, organized in 1901. He promoted the development of state and local parks, including the state park and lake north of Iowa City that bears his name.
Macbride had many academic interests, including languages and mathematics, and believed in promoting the university as a public institution to benefit all citizens, helping develop the university extension program and frequently lecturing across the state. He also founded the Lakeside Laboratory at Lake Okoboji in northwest Iowa.
His 1899 book, “North American Slime Moulds,” established Macbride as an authority on fungi, but he contributed to many popular publications as well. His memoir, “In Cabins and Sod-Houses,” was published in 1928.
Macbride and his wife, Harriet, moved to Seattle after his retirement in 1916 to be closer to his two children, where he died at age 85.
The Hall of Natural Science on the Pentacrest, built in 1904, was re-named in his honor after his death.