As classes start this semester, a face familiar to several decades of students is missing from the roster: Assoc. Prof. Frank McLaughlin has retired after a remarkable 52 years of service to Boston College. In recognition of his contributions, he has been granted Emeritus status, only the second member of the department (after David Belsley) to receive such a signal honor.
The occasion was marked by a joyful celebration December 2 in Corcoran Commons attended by hundreds of faculty, staff, former students and members of Frank's sizable family, spanning several generations. Nine of his eleven children are BC graduates, and five grandchildren are currently enrolled on the Heights. McLaughlin, the first generation of his family to attend high school, reminisced on his then-improbable trajectory to Boston College as an undergraduate, completing the B.S. in Social Science cum laude in 1954 and the M.A. in Economics (one of the first awarded!) in 1957. McLaughlin's clear talent for the discipline led him to graduate work at MIT, where he earned the Ph.D. in 1964 with his dissertation "Industrial Relations in the Boston Longshore Industry."
Frank joined the department in 1961 as an Instructor, and was appointed Assistant Professor in 1964. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1968. He served as Assistant Chair of the department for an unprecedented 32 years (1971-2003). During his tenure, he also taught in Harvard University's Trade Union Fellows program and Harvard's Institute in Employment and Training Administration. He was a Visiting Associate Professor of Industrial Relations in MIT's Sloan School in 1970-1971.
Through his many years of teaching, Frank has offered very popular undergraduate electives in Labor Economics and the History of Economic Thought. At the celebration of his achievements, current chair of the department Don Cox (BC'75) pulled out a bluebook from his own undergraduate days, and mentioned that he had earned a B+ on McLaughlin's exam. Cox is one of an estimated 13,000 students who have passed through Frank's classroom.
Our congratulations to Prof. McLaughlin on his remarkable record--adding up to 66 years on the Heights!--and his Emeritus status.
12 January 2014