Patrick McLean Named New Ford Institute Director at Albion College

July 15, 2013

Albion College is pleased to announce the appointment of a new director for its Gerald R. Ford Institute for Leadership in Public Policy and Service. Patrick McLean takes the Ford Institute helm beginning August 13, 2013.

“We had an outstanding group of applicants for this position,” Provost Susan Conner commented, “but what struck the Search Committee and all of us was Patrick’s commitment to sharing his twenty years of public service with Albion students. We are pleased to have his expertise, his thoughtful ideas about how to move the Ford Institute forward, his love of students, and his energy.”

McLean has spent the past three years as finance director for the city of Toledo, Ohio, where he oversaw a $560 million annual budget and, during his tenure, erased an inherited $48 million deficit. McLean also managed Toledo's state government affairs, was involved in collective bargaining with nine bargaining units, and participated in economic development activities with Germany and Canada.

McLean's diverse professional background includes finance, management and policy work with organizations such as the Ohio Board of Regents, the Ohio Attorney General, Washtenaw Area Council for Children, the city of Ypsilanti and the Ohio Senate. He has significant experience as a management and budget consultant and has served as an adjunct professor at New York University, Wilmington College and Monroe County (Michigan) Community College. The current vice chairman for the Washtenaw Community College Board of Trustees, McLean has lobbied federal legislators in Washington on behalf of the college. He is an alumnus of the University of Dayton and holds a master's degree in political science from Miami University of Ohio.

Albion College's Gerald R. Ford Institute for Leadership in Public Policy and Service, created by President Ford in 1977, strives to develop leaders and engaged citizens who understand the competing and conflicting interests of our world and the responsibility to advocate for the greater good. Serving as a bridge between the classroom and real world, the Institute provides internships, professional and alumni networking, service activities and other applied experiences for Albion College students.