Claude Peter Magrath was born on April 23, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of New Hampshire in 1955. Magrath began his career teaching political science at Brown University after earning his doctorate from Cornell University in 1961. There he rose from instructor to full professor in six years, and also served as an associate dean of the graduate school. He left Brown in 1968 to become dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Nebraska. He left the University of Nebraska as vice chancellor for academic affairs to become president of the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1972. He was named president of the University of Minnesota in September 1974. The University faced severe economic retrenchment during Magrath’s tenure and in response he developed policies and procedures for reallocation of resources. In spite of severe budget cuts and increases in tuition, the University maintained its ranking as one of the top ten public institutions in the nation. In 1984, he left the University of Minnesota and became president of the University of Missouri from 1985-1991. In 1992 Magrath was named president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. He left that position in 2005, and in 2006, he became Senior Advisor to the College Board.
From the guide to the C. Peter Magrath papers, 1959-2005, (University of Minnesota Libraries. University of Minnesota Archives [uarc])
