John F. McDonald '61 was a Freshman at Mac Arthur in the first year of the school, 1957-58. He is a member of the first class to attend all four years, and graduated ranked number one in a class of 333 with a perfect GPA. He recalls particularly the excellent preparation in mathematics he received at Mac Arthur from Mr. Maurer, Mr. Tapp, Miss Jones, and Mr. Tinch. He graduated from Grinnell College in 1965 with a BA in economics, and earned the PhD in economics from Yale University in 1971. He joined the faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago in that same year, and was promoted to Professor of Economics in 1981.
Currently he is Professor Emeritus of Economics and Finance in the College of Business Administration at UIC. At UIC he served as Head of the Departments of Finance and Information and Decisioin Sciences, Senior Associate Dean of the College of Business Administration, and Interim Dean of the College during 2004-05. During 1993-94 he was President of the Illinois Economic Association.
He is the author of seven books and over 100 journal articles and book chapters in the field of economics. His most recent book is "Urban America: Growth, Crisis, and Rebirth," M.E. Sharpe, 2007. He served as editor of the academic journal Urban Studies, and curretly is editor of the Journal of Real Estate Literature.