George William McClelland
educator; provost of University of Pennsylvania 1939-1944; pres. of University of Pennsylvania 1944-1948
George William McClelland (1880−1955) was an American educator, provost of the University of Pennsylvania from 1939 to 1944, and president of the University of Pennsylvania from 1944 to 1948.
Biography
McClelland received his bachelor's degree, masters and Ph.D. all from the University of Pennsylvania in 1903, 1912 and 1916 respectively. He began his teaching career as an English instructor at City College of New York in 1903.
In 1911, McClelland became an instructor in English at the University of Pennsylvania; in 1917, he became an assistant professor of English. In 1924, he was made a full professor of English, a position he held until he was given emeritus status in 1950.
At the same time as he held his academic positions, McClelland also held administrative positions. He worked as assistant director of undergraduate admissions from 1915 to 1921. From 1921 to 1925, he was Penn's director of undergraduate admissions. He then served as vice provost from 1925 to 1928.
From 1928 until 1931, he was vice provost in charge of undergraduate schools.
The public source identifies “George William McClelland” as educator; provost of University of Pennsylvania 1939-1944; pres. of University of Pennsylvania 1944-1948. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around George, William and McClelland.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5546331. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1880, 1955, 1939 and 1944.
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This entry incorporates text from “George William McClelland” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.