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Department ofReligious Studies

Margaret McLean

Margaret R. McLean

Senior Lecturer Emeritus, Religious Studies Department

Curriculum Vitae (CV)


Margaret R. McLean received her B.S. degree in biology from the University of San Francisco, her M.Div. from Luther Seminary, and doctoral degrees from both the Medical College of Wisconsin (clinical pathology) and the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley (ethics). She is Associate Director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Her research interests are in the area of bioethics, specifically medical ethics, ethics and biotechnology, ethics in science, and the ethics of space exploration.

Courses

BIOL 171: Social and Ethical Dimensions of Biotechnology
TESP 157: Ethics in the Health Professions

Publications

When What We Know Outstrips What We Can DoIn The Well-Crafted Argument: A Guide and Reader, 6th ed., Fred D. White and Simone J. Billings, Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2017.

Just-in-time disaster planning does not work.  MarketWatch, June 10, 2015.

Bury Your Hair on the Moon? Let’s kick-start some ethical considerations first. Slate, December 2, 2014. 

As We Lie Dying: A Necessary Protocol for End-of-Life Care. Commonweal, 141(14):   11-12, 2014 (with Gerald Coleman, SS).

 Allocating Scarce Resources—A Wicked Problem. Health Progress, 94(6), 60-67, 2013.

In The News

February 3, 2023

Margaret McClean expresses concern about a new bill proposed in Massachusetts which would allow incarcerated individuals the option of donating their organs or bone marrow in exchange for a reduction in their sentences. She was also interviewed on KLIF-AM.

February 5, 2020

Margaret R. McLean wrote an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle comparing lessons from the SARS outbreak in 2003 to today’s coronavirus outbreak.