A native of New York, Kim MacColl received his A.B. from Princeton, his M.A. from the University of Colorado, and his Ph.D. in American constitutional history from UCLA. After teaching at Occidental College and Reed College, he served as Headmaster of the Catlin Gabel School in Portland from 1958 until 1966. After teaching part-time at Catlin Gabel from 1966 until 1974, he became an adjunct instructor at Portland State University.