Harvey Reginald MacMillan was British Columbia’s Chief Forester, developing international markets for British Columbia’s lumber and instrumentally assisting in creating the British Columbia Forest Service. In 1919, he established the H.R. MacMillan Export Company, Ltd., the first privately-owned lumber export brokerage firm in the province, and after merging with Bloedel, Stewart and Welch Ltd. in 1951 to form MacMillan Bloedel, Ltd., it became one of the most powerful forestry corporations in the world.

In recognition of his high-level administrative service in both World Wars, H.R. MacMillan was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He was a prominent philanthropist, giving millions of dollars to the University of British Columbia, Vancouver’s planetarium and other museum and was also involved in numerous debates of public policy, especially in the arena of long-term resource management. H. R. MacMillan was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame in 1980.