| Donald A. McQuade | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Professor |
| Boards: | National Writing Project |
| Spouse: | Susanne Batschelet McQuade |
| Children: | 2 |
| Education: | St. Francis College, B.A. Rutgers University, MA & PhD |
| Workplaces: | University of California, Berkeley Queens College |
| Discipline: | English Composition, American Literature, Writing Studies |
Donald A. McQuade is an English professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of several books on writing composition, American literature, and advertising. He served as vice chancellor of university relations from 1999 to 2006.[1] McQuade was also the chair of the board of the National Writing Project from 2008 to 2012.[2] [3]
McQuade grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and attended St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights. He was a member of the national championship team in men’s water polo. McQuade studied at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where he received both his MA and PhD in English literature.[4]
Before his tenure at Berkeley, McQuade taught at Queens College in New York. Specifically, McQuade taught for the open admissions program, that affords any student that has received a high school diploma to enroll in its college courses, regardless of past GPA or test scores. With respect to CUNY’s Open Admissions Program, McQuade and Sandra Schor helped to create the Queens English Project. The project aimed to improve the writing skills of college-bound high school students and first-year college students in Queens County.
Since 1986, McQuade has been on staff at the University of California, Berkeley and teaches courses on American literature, lllWriting studies, and American studies. Apart from teaching, McQuade served in a number of administrative posts at Berkeley. He was vice provost and dean of undergraduate and interdisciplinary studies, the founding dean of American studies, the founder of UC Berkeley’s college writing program, and chairman of the department of dramatic art. As dean of undergraduate studies, he designed the undergraduate research apprentice program (URAP). From 1999 to 2006, he was the vice chancellor for university relations, where he oversaw alumni relations and fundraising for the university.
McQuade sat on several non-profit boards and was the chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) and the National Writing Project. He went to become the co-founder and executive chairman of WriteLab in 2013, a startup focused on improving student writing located in Berkeley, California.[5]