Dr. McLaren joined the faculty of the university’s Animal Husbandry Department in 1966, following 17 years of service in the university’s Agricultural Experiment Stations at Ames Plantation near Grand Junction and at Spring Hill. From 1987 to 1989, he was acting department head. He retired in 1989.
McLaren held a joint appointment in the College of Agriculture and the Agriculture Experiment Station. He became recognized both in the United States and abroad for his research on beef cattle and forage management systems, fields in which he published extensively. At the university, he pioneered in introducing students in animal science to statistical analysis and the use of computers.
From 1989 to 1991, he served as an agricultural adviser to the State of Amazonas in Brazil. In 1982 he received the Gamma Sigma Delta Research Award, and in 1989 he was named Buford Ellington Distinguished Professor. His intellectual contributions to the life of the university have been recognized by placement of a plaque in his honor on a faculty study.