Joseph McLain was born in
Weirton, West Virginia on July 11, 1916, the son of Howard and Elizabeth McLain. He spent his childhood in
Baltimore, Maryland. Like his older brother, McLain was educated at
Washington College. While in college, McLain was a member of
Theta Chi, president of the class of 1937, and played basketball, football, lacrosse, and track. He did his doctoral work at
Johns Hopkins University in chemistry. During World War II, McLain paused his education to serve as a
major in the US Army
Chemical Corps doing research on
smoke screens and pyrotechnics. During the explosion, McLain rescued two women from the plant. The pair wrote recommendations for the safe storage for fireworks that became part of the first US standards. McLain took a leave of absence from the college in 1981 and died in Baltimore at
Johns Hopkins Hospital the same year. ==Personal life==