charles donald mclean 

For more than 30 years, Charles Donald McLean was the principal of the Brockport Normal School in New York, which is known today as the State University of New York at Brockport (SUNY Brockport). McLean was also the founder of Gamma Sigma Fraternity International, the first international secondary/high school fraternity that at one time listed 119 chartered chapters in the United States and Canada.

Principal Charles D. McLean, who was previously a professor, was a formidable force, greatly admired by faculty and respected by students. He was instrumental in the formation of fraternity and sorority life at Brockport. McLean founded the Gamma Sigma Society at Brockport on October 11, 1869, two years after he was appointed principal. 

Principal McLean may very well have been inspired to form Gamma Sigma based on his past educational experience with literary societies. Charles graduated from the Brockport Collegiate Institute in 1850 and was later admitted to the University of Rochester. While a student at Rochester, he would have crossed paths with members of the Delphic Society. McLean held close ties to the University of Rochester over the years, earning an honorary master’s degree from the institution in 1868. 

The Delphic Society at Rochester was active between 1850 and 1866. While no surviving records conclusively confirm McLean’s membership, the timing and proximity strongly suggest that he was exposed to the Delphic tradition and its ideals of scholarship, debate, and personal refinement.

Charles Donald McLean was born of Scottish heritage in County Antrim, Ireland, on November 7, 1834. His family emigrated to Ontario, Canada, where his father, Charles McLean, died in 1835. Soon after, the death prompted the younger Charles’ mother, Jane McHendry McLean, to relocate her family to Watertown, New York. 

Charles D. McLean attended the Clarkson Academy as a child before the Brockport Collegiate Institute (which later became the normal school and then SUNY Brockport). After his initial time at the University of Rochester, McLean went on to study and practice law. He earned a Bachelor’s of Law degree from Albany Law School. His legal career was short-lived, leading him to follow his passion for education, becoming an instructor at both his alma maters, the Clarkson Academy, and the Brockport Normal School.

In 1858, McLean married Wealthy Paine, who died in 1876. In 1882, he married Martha Bross, with whom he had two sons, Donald and Waldo. 

Charles Donald McLean died in New York City on September 23, 1905, and he is buried at the Lakeview Cemetery in Brockport, New York. A plaque cementing his dedication to the Gamma Sigma Fraternity is on display near his gravesite, and McLean Hall on the SUNY Brockport campus exists in his honor.