Professor Rambo says "Learn or die" -- lifelong learning and the brain

Dr. Michael McGrath

Department of History & Art History, Adrian College

Dr. Michael McGrath truly embraces the ribbon “Learning Throughout a Lifetime”. He has a lifetime of experiences going to elementary school in a French school run by nuns in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, attending middle school in Saipan, Marianans Islands and high school in Taipei, Taiwan. He attended Princeton University as an undergraduate with a major in East Asian Studies. In between his sophomore and junior years he served in the US Army (1962 – 1969) in Infantry and Military Intelligence, Special Forces, reaching the rank of Captain. He later returned to Princeton to earn his PhD in Asian Studies and History. Dr. McGrath’s varied worldly experiences has driven him to a lifetime of learning.

Professor McGrath began teaching at Adrian College in 1983. A few of his recent course offerings include, Islamic Civilzation, Women in Islamic Societies, East Asian Civilization-China, Sapiens - a History of Us, and The Big Picture: From The Big Bang to Now. In his time here at Adrian he has taught courses listed under the following departmental headings: HIST, PSCI, ECON, B AD, BIOL, MATH, ENGL, FLNG (Chinese and Japanese languages), ESPE (yoga), FAS (Family Arts and Sciences -- World Food Supply), RELG, and PHIL. In addition to being a well loved professor he is also a scholar with 100+ articles (70 of which are classified) and is a contributor to Cambridge History of China, v.5.

In fall 2010 he was awarded the Ross Newsom Teaching Excellence Award. He has given the Baccalaureate speech five times and the December graduation speech twice.