James B. McMillin

MIT's Freshman Crew Coach 1939-1944 

MIT's Varsity/Head Coach 1945-1957

James B. "Stub" McMillin (not the most apt nickname since he was between 6'5" and 6'7") was captain of the 1936 Gold medal winning Olympic Crew from the University of Washington, featured in the book, The Boys in the Boat.  This crew took victories at Poughkeepsie in both 1936 and 1937.

When Robert "Bob" Moch was hired as head coach at MIT,  he brought McMillin with him to serve as freshman coach.  The two introduced the western style of stroke that had made them champions to this program.  When Moch left in 1945, McMillin became head coach.

In addition to coaching, McMillin worked as a lab engineer at MIT on classified research.   He would eventually work as an engineer at Boeing. McMillin left MIT in 1957 and returned to Washington in 1960 settling in Bainbridge Island for the rest of his life.

He passed away August 22, 2005 at the age of 91.

Sources about McMillin:

The Boys in the Boat by Dan Brown

Men's Crew History 1930-1939, University of Washington

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