Malcolm J. McPherson

Dr. Malcolm J. McPherson, of Blacksburg, passed away peacefully on November, 12, 2008. He is survived by his wife, Shirley; son, Malcolm Stewart; daughter, Alison; son-in-law, d'Riche; and grandchildren, Malcolm James, Victoria and Connor; brother, James; and sister-in law, Iris ; nephew and nieces. He was preceded in death by his sister Mary. Dr. McPherson was born into a mining family on February, 16, 1937 in Larkhall, Scotland. Dr. McPherson received most of his education in England. His studies followed the mining footsteps of his father and older brother. In 1958, he was accepted to study mining engineering at Nottingham University, graduating with a first class honors B.Sc. degree in 1962. He went on to conduct research in the area of mine ventilation and gained his Ph. D. in 1965.
He gained international recognition of his work on planning the ventilation layouts of underground operations and was first to develop computer software for the analysis of the quantity and quality of airflows in ventilation networks. Modern versions of his programs are in use worldwide.
In 1978 Dr. McPherson spent a semester as a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley. During this time, he became involved in the U.S. work on underground nuclear waste repositories. That work resulted in his being offered a faculty position at U.C. Berkeley which he took up in 1981.
By 1982, the demand for his services had grown to the extent that he went into partnership with one of his graduate students, Keith G. Wallace, to form Mine Ventilation Services, Inc., a consultancy company specializing in mine ventilation The company remains in operation with its headquarters now in Fresno, CA.
In 1991, Shirley and Malcolm McPherson moved to Blacksburg, where he took a position on the mining faculty at Virginia Tech. His children and grandchildren soon followed them to the New River Valley. In 1997 he was appointed Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Engineering. He served as Interim Dean in the two years before his retirement in 2003. He may best be remembered at Virginia Tech as the founder of the Institute for Critical Studies and Applied Science (ICTAS), a new paradigm for the organization of interdisciplinary research at the University.
The family will receive friends on Monday, November 17, 2008 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the McCoy Funeral Home on Country Club Drive, Blacksburg. A memorial service will be held at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, 1845 Cambria St., Christiansburg on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 11 a.m. with Pastor Fred Hodges officiating. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Our Savior Lutheran Church principal building fund or the Christiansburg Salvation Army.