Melville Peter McPherson (born October 27, 1940) is president emeritus of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. He previously served as a special assistant to President Gerald Ford, administrator of USAID under President Ronald Reagan, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Treasury, President of Michigan State University from 1993 to 2004, and Chairman of Dow Jones. Early life, education, and personal life McPherson was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. McPherson received his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University in 1963. Returning from the Peace Corps, McPherson earned a master's in business administration from Western Michigan University in 1967 and a law degree from American University in Washington in 1969. McPherson and his wife, Joanne, have four children and seven grandchildren. Peace Corps service His public service career began as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru, where during 1964 and 1965 he spent 18 months in Lima running a food distribution program and setting up credit unions. He called the experience a defining moment and said his experience in the Peace Corps helped him learn how to adapt. "When I was a Peace Corps volunteer, it was just a different culture," McPherson said. "I found I couldn't be a gringo and be effective. It's just a matter of asking people what they want to get done, finding out what the formal and informal rules are and figuring out ways to do things differently, while doing practical work in that environment. But that process was a challenge." Service in Ford and Reagan Administrations After law school, he worked for the Internal Revenue Service, where his specialty was international taxation. He joined the administration of fellow Michigander Gerald Ford in 1975 as special assistant to the President and Deputy Director, Presidential Personnel Office. Dick Cheney was White House Chief of Staff. After his government service in the Ford administration, he joined a private law practice as managing partner of the Washington office of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, an Ohio law firm. In November 1980, he was named General Counsel to the Reagan-Bush transition. McPherson held several high-level positions in President Ronald Reagan's administration. He was White House Counsel for the early weeks of the Reagan presidency. He served as administrator of USAID from 1981 to 1987 where he led the U.S. response to the Great Famine in Africa in 1984–85. During that famine, the U.S. delivered 2 million tons of