Dates

• Majority of material found within 1960 - 2015

Extent

4 boxes Linear Feet (Donald Scott McPherson was raised in Sharon, Pennsylvania. He graduated from IUP with a BA in History and Political Science in 1969. During his undergraduate years he served as Editor-in- Chief of the student newspaper, the Indiana Penn (1966) and as elected President of the Student Government Association (1967). He married Linda Jo Leighty who is also a 1969 graduate of IUP and a member of Alpha Sigma Alpha Sorority. McPherson earned his MA in History from IUP in 1971, concentrating in Labor History. In 1977, he earned his PhD in History from the University of Pittsburgh. He joined the IUP faculty as Assistant Dean of Men (Instructor) in September 1969. He was appointed Director of Residence Life in 1971 and served in that position, also teaching a graduate course (Tenured 1972, Assistant Professor, 1973) in the History of Higher Education in the Student Affairs in Higher Education (SAHE) graduate program, until 1977. In 1977, McPherson transferred to the newly established graduate department of Employment and Labor Relations and served as its founding chairperson (1977-1986). His teaching fields included Grievance Processing and Arbitration, Employment Law, Employment Discrimination, Dispute Resolution, Labor History, and Creative Problem Solving. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1978 and Professor in 1981. In 1993, Dr. McPherson was named Distinguished University Professor. He retired from IUP as Professor Emeritus in 2004. His university service included: Vice President (1971-1975) and President (1975-1979) of the IUP Alumni Association; Foundation for IUP Board of Directors (1977-1982); Advisory Member, IUP Council of Trustees (1978-1980); IUP Presidential Search Committee (1984- 1985); and University Division Co-Chair, IUP Capital Campaign (1987). He was the chair of the Presidential Inauguration Committee (1984-1985); chair of the Presidential Commission on Cost Reduction Alternatives (1991); served on the IUP 125th Anniversary Committee (1999-2000); and he served on the Task Force on Developing PASSHE Employee Competencies in 2001. Dr. McPherson received the IUP Board of Trustees Citation for Outstanding Service in 1979; the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Certificate for Distinguished Academic Service in 1981; and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Distinguished Faculty Award for Exceptional Academic Service in 1983. He is a recipient of the IUP Distinguished Alumni Award (1983). In addition to his labor and employment relations experience in graduate teaching and in training and continuing education, Dr. McPherson served as Grievance Chair (1978), elected President (1980) and Past President (1981) of the IUP Chapter of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculty (APSCUF). Following his APSCUF service, Dr. McPherson began a professional career as a labor arbitrator in 1981 and practiced part-time until his retirement from IUP in 2004, continuing as a full-time arbitrator thereafter. He is listed on the rosters of the American Arbitration Association, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the Arbitration and Mediation Service, the National Mediation Board, and the Pennsylvania Bureau of Mediation. He also serves as a permanent arbitrator on panels in the steel, manufacturing, public employment, uniformed services, utilities, higher education, and telecommunications industries. In 1992, Dr. McPherson was elected to the National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA), a not-forprofit professional and honorary organization of labor arbitrators. He was elected to a three-year term on the NAA Board of Governors (2008-2010). Dr. McPherson was elected National Vice President of the NAA in 2013, and he was re-elected in 2014. The Donald S. McPherson Collection contains two series: Series I contains Labor Arbitration Opinions and Awards (1981-present); and Series II contains IUP Memorabilia such as IUP photographs, and commemorative memorabilia from Alpha Sigma Alpha and the 1987 IUP Capital Campaign. The material included in Series I of the collection includes neutral opinions and final and binding labor arbitration awards as well as advisory fact finding reports issued by Dr. McPherson from 1981 to the present. It does not include case files of notes, transcripts, briefs and evidentiary material which were considered in issuing the opinions and awards.)

Language of Materials

English