The campus pedestrian mall's new name honors the university's 10th president for his accomplishments as president and as a historian of the American West.
Dedication events include a public lecture about Malone's contributions to western history by historian and Portland State University professor William Lang, who was a colleague of Malone's, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, at the Museum of the Rockies; a reception preceding the lecture at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 29 at the museum; a dedication ceremony at 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, on the mall between Montana Hall and Reid Hall (in case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held in SUB Ballroom A); and a reception immediately following the ceremony in the SUB's Leigh Lounge.
Malone, who was raised in Pomeroy, Wash., completed his bachelor's degree in history at Gonzaga University and earned a doctorate in American Studies from Washington State University in 1966.
He spent a year at Texas A&M University before joining the history department at Montana State in 1967. In 1973, Malone became a full history professor at MSU. He was named chairman of the Department of History and Philosophy in 1976, dean of graduate studies in 1979 and interim vice president for academic affairs in 1988. He was selected president of MSU in 1991, following a national search. He served until his death of a heart attack in 1999 at age 59.
Malone was also considered the state's preeminent historian, authoring nine books and 20 articles during his career. His best-known works include The Montana Past: An Anthology, co-authored in 1969, and Montana: A History of Two Centuries, a definitive history of the state written in conjunction with William L. Lang and the late Richard Roeder, also a former MSU history professor, which was published in 1976 and revised in 1991. At the time of his death, Malone had a 10th book under contract to Yale University Press, a major work destined to reconceptualize western American history since 1930.
Susan Fraser, (406) 994-2341 or email@example.com