Dorn Charles McGrath Jr. ’52

Dorn Charles McGrath Jr. ’52 died on January 25 in Washington, D.C. He will be buried in Arlington Cemetery later this year. Dorn was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania, on May 16, 1930, and graduated from Bradford High School. In 1952 he received his A.B. in engineering and architecture from Dartmouth, where he was a member of Sigma Chi, Casque & Gauntlet, and the ski and baseball teams. Dorn earned a master’s in city planning from Harvard University in 1959. He also served in the U.S. Navy, from 1955 to 1956 in the Civil Engineer Corps and 1958 to 1959 in Spain. He then worked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, before spending most of his career as an educator with George Washington University, where he taught for 35 years, first in the department of urban and regional planning and later in the department of geography. He also founded its center for urban and environmental research, housed in the geography department. He chaired that department from 1996 to 2003. Throughout his career Dorn worked closely with residents of area neighborhoods, the District of Columbia government, and state and federal agencies. He received many awards and recognitions as a planner. Dorn was an active Dartmouth alumnus and served as class president from 2007 to 2013. His wife, Lee, predeceased him in 2002. He is survived by children Dorn III and Martha.