 MacLeod was awarded his PhD in 1968, the same year he published "The Boat" in "The Massachusetts Review".The story appeared in the 1969 edition of "The Best American Short Stories" along with ones by Andre Dubus, Bernard Malamud, Joyce Carol Oates and Isaac Bashevis Singer.A specialist in British literature of the 19th century, MacLeod taught English for three years at Indiana University before accepting a post in 1969 at the University of Windsor where he taught English and creative writing for more than three decades.