John Joseph McDermott (January 5, 1932 – September 30, 2018)Philosophy professor John J. McDermott remembered as conscience of Texas A&M, top in his field
/ref> was an American philosopher and a professor at Texas A&M University. He was a distinguished professor at Texas A&M since 1981 and held the Melbern G. Glasscock Chair in the Humanities.

Biography

McDermott was born in New York City to John J. and Helen Kelly McDermott. He was the first of eight children in a lower-middle class family. He earned an undergraduate degree in 1953 at

St. Francis College , mottoeng = My God, My All , established = , type = Private college , chancellor = , president = Miguel Martinez-Saenz , provost = Jennifer Lancas ...

. He went to

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

to complete a master's degree and a Ph.D. in 1959. (Dissertation title: "Experience is Pedagogical: the genesis and essence of the American nineteenth century notion of experience"). He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Union Theological Graduate School. McDermott joined the faculty of Queens College, City University of New York, where he stayed until he took a position at Texas A&M University as philosophy professor and department head in 1977. At Texas A&M, McDermott called the school's first faculty meeting in 1983. That meeting resulted in the formation of the school's faculty senate and McDermott was the group's first speaker. That year he won a Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching from the university. He founded the College of Medicine's Humanities in Medicine Department, and he was the department head from 1983 to 1990. In 2012, McDermott was named the founding director of the school's Community of Faculty Retirees. A focus of McDermott's work is the connection between American philosophy and culture. He compiled and introduced volumes of writing by William James, Josiah Royce and

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the f ...

. He was president of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy from 1978 to 1980 and of the

William James Society The William James Society (WJS) is an interdisciplinary professional society which supports the study of the life and work of American psychologist and philosopher William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an ...

in 2001-2002. In 2016, he was awarded the society's first Lifetime Achievement Award. He was named a Distinguished Fellow of the

American Montessori Society The American Montessori Society (AMS) is a New York City-based, member-supported nonprofit organization which promotes the use of the Montessori teaching approach in private and public schools. AMS advocates for the Montessori method (popularized ...

in 1980. McDermott died on September 30, 2018. He is survived by his second wife, Patricia, and five children from his first marriage. McDermott was very involved in

Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...

, and when he died he had been sober for 30 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDermott, John 1932 births 2018 deaths American philosophers St. Francis College alumni Fordham University alumni Queens College, City University of New York faculty Texas A&M University faculty People from New York City