American Methodist bishop, college president, and social reformer.

McConnell entered the Methodist ministry in 1894, and after serving as pastor of churches in Massachusetts and New York he became president of DePauw University, Greencastle, Ind. (1909–12). Elected bishop in 1912, he served in Mexico and in Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S., where he studied industrial conditions. As chairman of the Commission of Inquiry of the Interchurch World Movement, he supported the investigation that resulted in the Report on the Steel Strike of 1919, which was influential in abolishing the 12-hour day and the 7-day week in the steel industry. McConnell wrote many books, including The Christlike God (1927) and Evangelicals, Revolutionists, and Idealists (1942).