WSU Everett Honors Pat McClain

Pat McClain, second from left was honored Friday. Photo credit WSU Everett.

Pat McClain was honored Friday by Washington State University (WSU) Everett Chancellor Paul Pitre for his service as chair of the WSU Everett Advisory Council and years of dedicated effort to establish and grow WSU’s Puget Sound campus.

“Pat was integral in the establishment of Washington State University Everett,” Pitre said on Friday at a meeting of the advisory council. “Since then, he has steadfastly worked to grow Washington State University in our community, build partnerships for student success and create opportunities for future generations.”

McClain has served as the chair of the WSU Everett Advisory Council the past two years and will continue to serve as a member. In 2016, he retired from the City of Everett, where he served with four mayors, impacting nearly every major city, county and regional milestone moment for the past 40 years.

Pitre recounted the story of the community’s work starting 40 years ago to bring a research institution to Everett and Snohomish County. In 2016, then-Mayor Ray Stephanson told The Herald, “What Pat did — and this is what is typical on big projects we’ve worked on — he did the heavy lifting.”

McClain said, “You listened to the stories of young people and what it took to get their degree — and it wasn’t that long ago they couldn’t get that degree in Snohomish County.” He considers the campus a crowning achievement of his career, and said he was moved to tears at the first commencement ceremony the campus held in May 2016.