Remembering Archie Max Lennon

We regretfully announce the death of Max Lennon, former CFAES Vice President of Agricultural Administration and Dean, who died Nov. 29 at the age of 76.

A native North Carolinian, Archie Max Lennon was born in Columbus County on Sept. 27, 1940, to Denver H. and Mary Kelly Lennon. Lennon attended Mars Hill College graduating with an associate degree in agriculture in 1960. He received a bachelor of science degree in Animal Science from North Carolina State University in 1962 and proceeded to operate a diversified crop and livestock farm in Evergreen North Carolina. In 1966, he returned to North Carolina State and focused upon studying swine nutrition, his 1970 dissertation being “Soy Flour as a Protein Source for Early-Weaned Pigs.”

Lennon was appointed an assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science at Texas Tech in 1970. Two years later he left Tech and went to work for Central Soya Company on research for swine feeds but returned to Texas Tech in 1974 as Professor and Chair of the Department of Animal Science. In 1980, he accepted the position of Chair of the Animal Husbandry Department at the University of Missouri’s Columbia campus and then within six months was promoted to Dean of the College and Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station. Three years later, Lennon moved to Ohio State as Vice President of Agricultural Administration and Executive Dean for Agriculture, Home Economics, and Natural Resources.

In early 1986 Lennon accepted the presidency of Clemson University and began work on March 1, 1986. Max Lennon resigned on February 26, 1994, and left Clemson during July of 1994. After working briefly with Eastern Foods, he accepted the presidency of Mars Hill in December 1995. After leaving Mars Hill in 2002, Lennon became president of the Education and Research Consortium of the Western Carolinas.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *