Harold W. McGraw Jr. ’40

Larry Mead furnished Aviation Week & Space Technology’s recent article about Hal, who retired in 1988 as chairman of McGraw-Hill, his family’s publishing business. The article said Hal “led McGraw-Hill with an educator’s heart and an insistence that the underlying principles guiding the company since its founding in 1888 would endure.”

A Lawrenceville graduate, Hal followed a number of relatives to Princeton, including James H. McGraw Jr. ’15, Curtis W. McGraw ’19, and Donald C. McGraw ’21. He majored in politics, was a member of the Undergraduate Inter-Club Committee, and served as president of Dial Lodge.

During World War II, he served as a captain in the Army Air Force.  

Hal was president of Princeton University Press for 16 years, and endowed the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning on campus in 1998 and the McGraw visiting professorship for distinguished writers in 1984.

In recognition of his lifetime commitment to education, Hal received the nation’s highest literacy award in 1990 from President George H.W. Bush.

Hal was predeceased by his wife, Anne (Per-Lee) and son Thomas. He is survived by his sons, Harold III and Robert; daughter Suzanne McGraw; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. His classmates offer their deep sympathies.