Educator headed Punahou
School for 26 years

Roderick Fulton McPhee was only 38 years old when he became president of Punahou School in 1968.

For the next 26 years, he would guide the largest private school in the nation to new heights.

"He took Punahou to the next level of excellence in education," said David Fairbanks, a 20-year member of Punahou's board of trustees. "He was a most remarkable, gifted man who made most of his gift."

"He was a superb leader and educator," Fairbanks said, who assembled a talented team and "let them do their jobs."

McPhee died Friday at his Manoa home due to complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 76. Friends remember him as a wonderful speaker who possessed a great sense of judgment.

"Rod has been my best friend since I was 16 years old," said his wife, Sharon. The couple married in 1948, when she was an elementary school teacher. "We knew each other since our school days. It's really a joy that he has been my best friend all my life," she said. Both were founding members of the Contemporary Museum.

McPhee was born on Jan. 30, 1929, in Eau Claire, Wis. He received a bachelor's degree in English and speech from the University of Wisconsin in 1950, a master's degree in speech in 1953 and a doctorate in administration from the University of Chicago in 1959. In 1968 he succeeded John Fox as the 15th president of Punahou School.

Previously, McPhee had served as superintendent in the Glencoe, Ill., Public School System, assistant professor at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education and director of Harvard's Advanced Administrative Institute.

Under his leadership, Punahou renovated and expanded its campus, which included the Wo International Center, Asa Thurston Physical Education Center and Julia Ing Learning Center.

In 1985, McPhee traveled to Washington, D.C., after Punahou was chosen by President Ronald Reagan as one of six schools nationwide in the Exemplary Private School Recognition Project.

He was involved in many organizations, including president of the Rotary Club of Honolulu and of the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools.

In the early 1980s, McPhee lobbied before the state Legislature to raise the drinking age from 18.

In 1984 the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Alumni Association gave McPhee its Alumni Distinguished Service Award. He had also received recognition from the Boys and Girls Club of Honolulu and the Punahou Alumni Association.

When McPhee retired as president of Punahou in 1994, he and his wife established the Roderick and Sharon McPhee Endowed Scholarship.

James Scott, who succeeded McPhee as president, noted that his predecessor had handed diplomas to 10,500 Punahou graduates from 1968 to 1994.

McPhee was well read and thoughtful, Scott said.

"Personally, he has been a source of encouragement and wisdom from my last two years in high school, when he was president, to the last two months when he was alive," said Scott, who graduated from Punahou in 1970. "I could still talk to him about ideas."

"He was a friend and a mentor," Scott added. He said McPhee would be remembered for his wit, sense of humor and broad intellect.

McPhee is also survived by his son, Dennis, a disc jockey at KSSK radio. Funeral services are pending.

In lieu of flowers, family members request that donations be made in McPhee's memory to the Roderick F. and Sharon McPhee Scholarship Fund at Punahou School for students with financial need.