McLean was born in 1922 and was raised near Southern Pines in Moore County, North Carolina.[1][2] Her mother died when she was nine years old and she was raised with her younger sister by aunts and her grandmothers.[3] She moved from Carthage to Concord in 1939.[3] McLean completed her first two years of undergraduate studies at Barber–Scotia College, graduating in 1941.[3] She finished a bachelor's degree in education from Johnson C. Smith University.[1]
McLean worked as an elementary school teacher.[3] She served as an instructor at Bowie State University.[3] She completed a master's degree in education at Howard University.[1] She completed post-graduate studies at Northwestern University, Catholic University of America, and Harvard University.[1] From 1947 to 1963, she was an instructor at Johnson C. Smith University.[3] She was a professor and head of the elementary education department at Barber–Scotia College from 1963 to 1973.[3] From 1973 to 1974, she was a college dean.[3] In 1974, McLean became its ninth president, succeeding John Gresham.[1][3] She was the first female president.[1] At the time, she was the nation's only Black woman college president.[3] She was succeeded by Tyrone Burkette in 1988.[3]
In 1986, she became the first female elected chair of the council of presidents of the United Negro College Fund.[1] In 1993, she was inducted into the National Black College Hall of Fame.[3] From 1994 to 1996, she returned to Barber–Scotia College as its president, succeeding Asa T. Spaulding Jr..[1] She served as its interim president in 2006.[4]
