Donald F. Megnin, son of German immigrants, grew up on a farm near Chittenango, New York. He graduated from Fayetteville High School and worked on the family farm for several years. A Syracuse industrialist provided him with a scholarship to attend Syracuse University where he received his A. B. degree. Upon graduation from Syracuse, he was appointed as the Syracuse University Lecturer of English to Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand for two years
under the auspices of the Syracuse-in-Asia Association. Upon his return, he enrolled in the School of Theology at Boston University and received his S.T.B. degree. While serving as a United Methodist Minister in Syracuse, New york, he began his graduate studies in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs part time. After completing his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in political science, he taught at Slippery Rock University (one of fourteen state-owned universities of Pennsylvania). He is currently a professor emeritus of international relations from Slippery Rock University and divides his time between New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where he and and his wife reside, and Syracuse, New York where they spend their summers.
