Malcolm (Mac) Cormack, 82, of New Haven, CT., died January 17th 2018 peacefully at home. He attended high school at King Edward VI Grammar School for Boys, Aston, Birmingham, England, where he was Head Boy, and graduated in 1954. He was awarded his BA in 1959 from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, and received his MA from the University of Cambridge. He was an Art Historian and Museum Curator; he held the positions of Curator of Paintings at the City of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery from 1959-1962; Curator of Paintings and Drawings at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, until 1976, and lecturer in Art History, University of Cambridge, 1962-1976. After emigrating with his family to America in 1976, he was Curator of Paintings at the Yale Center for British Art, and was a faculty member at Yale University in the Department of the History of Art until 1991. From 1991 until his retirement in 2003, he was Paul Mellon Curator of European Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia. Internationally acknowledged as an authority in the field of European art, he was the author of numerous books, catalogues and scholarly articles.

From 1977-1991 he also coached the Yale Rugby Team, with which he remained closely involved until the end of his life. In Virginia he coached the Richmond Rugby Club. He was a voracious reader and a highly accomplished musician, playing jazz piano in bands in England and the United States. Mac entertained family and friends frequently with his impromptu musical performances, and the breadth of his knowledge and humor was reflected in his nickname "Makipedia".

From 1954 - 1956 he served in the British Army as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Signals. In 1958 he met and married his beloved wife of 60 years, Lynn (Kaddy) Cormack. Mac is survived by his wife Lynn, his daughters Katherine Blossom (Shawn DeCesare) and Sarah Cormack (Hendrik Homan), and granddaughters Alice Blossom and Bianca Boeck. He was predeceased by his parents Walter and Alice Cormack, and his baby son Giles.

Wake and service will be held from 3-5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21st, at Hawley Lincoln Funeral Home, 493 Whitney Ave., New Haven, CT. A celebration of his life will be held in the summer of 2018. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Connecticut Hospice, 100 Double Beach Rd., Branford, CT 06405, or to "Friends of Yale Rugby", c/o Ralph Bosch, 6071 Main St., Trumbull, CT. 06611. To sign the online guestbook please visit hawleylincolnmemorial.com.