Former President of Homestake Mining : Donald McLaughlin, Engineer and UC Regent, Dies
Donald Hamilton McLaughlin, a teacher, mining engineer and former chairman of the University of California Board of Regents, died Monday at his home in Berkeley. He was 93.
McLaughlin, a UC regent appointed by Gov. Earl Warren in 1951, spent most of his professional career with Homestake Mining Co. of San Francisco, serving as the company’s president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board. He retired in 1981.
What was reported to be the largest gold find of the 20th Century in California--in 1980 at the juncture of Napa, Lake and Yolo counties--was named the McLaughlin Deposit in his honor.
McLaughlin was dean of UC Berkeley’s College of Mining and a professor of mining engineering, and he was a member of the UC Board of Regents for 16 years.
He was chairman of that board from 1958 to 1960.
In addition to professional and educational activities, McLaughlin was active in such civic, social and governmental affairs as the National Science Board of the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Geological Survey.
McLaughlin was a 1914 engineering graduate of UC Berkeley and received his master of arts degree and doctorate from Harvard, where he was a professor and chairman of the department of geology and geography and division of geological sciences between 1925 and 1941.
A memorial service will be held today in Berkeley. He is survived by his wife, Sylvia, four children and five grandchildren.
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