Scholar and lawyer, McLean has been a member of the Wabash faculty since 1968. McLean earned his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, as well as his master’s and doctorate degrees. He received his law degree with honors from the Indiana University School of Law in 1975. He has been a research fellow of the Earhart Foundation; was named a Sagamore of the Wabash by Indiana Governor Robert Orr; and was appointed honorary Secretary of State of Indiana. He has served Montgomery County, Indiana as deputy prosecuting attorney. McLean’s scholarship includes published articles on the judicial career of Roscoe Pound; the life and work of Rosa Luxemburg; the relationship of law of ethics; and the nature of liberty.
He is a member of the local and state bar associations; the Indiana State Advisory Board of the United States Civil Rights Commission; board of the Liberty Fund; and a member of the Advisory Council of the Indiana Public Policy Review. He has served as secretary and director of the National Center for the Medically Handicapped.
The Peck Medal is given annually to an outstanding practitioner of the law in honor of the late Judge David W. Peck, a Wabash alumnus, who rose to become the Chief Judge of New York State’s highest court.
Nicholas Roersma, a senior mathematics and economics double major, won the Peck Junior Medal. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Roersma of Grand Rapids, Mich.