St. Cloud State campus across the Mississippi River

Max Partch was a biology faculty member at St. Cloud State from 1949 to 1979 where he taught classes in biology and ecology.

Partch was born to Reverend and Mrs. L.C. Partch on November 26, 1916 in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. He was one of five children.

Partch graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1939 with a bachelor of arts degree. After World War II, where he served in the Panama Canal Zone, Partch began his graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin. In 1949, Partch was awarded a Ph.D. in ecology and moved to St. Cloud to teach at the then St. Cloud State Teachers College.

While at St. Cloud State, Partch was widely known for his research studying the population and vegetation changes at the great blue heron preserve near Cold Spring, Minnesota, just west of St. Cloud. Partch also purchased and donated 80 acres of land, known as Partch Woods, to the Nature Conservatory.

Partch retired in 1979 and would later settle in Payson, Arizona. He passed away on October 1, 2003 in Payson.

On February 14, 1947, Partch married Betty Mitchell. They had four children.