Background
The son of John Vester and Dorothy Eloise (Hicks) McGee, he spent his early years in Knoxville, Tennessee.
critic writer rhetorical theorist
The son of John Vester and Dorothy Eloise (Hicks) McGee, he spent his early years in Knoxville, Tennessee.
In 1967 he graduated with a Master of Arts In 1974 he received his Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Iowa, writing his dissertation "Edmund Burke"s Beautiful Life: An Exploration of the Relationship between Rhetoric and Social Theory" under Donald C. Bryant.
In his last years he was very active in virtual rhetorical communities and on-line debates. McGee founded a website, (f)ragments, for rhetorical research and created a virtual learning community.
He received some criticism for his teaching because of his staunch liberalism which had an effect on his teaching style but despite this, he was still a very sought after professor teaching at major universities in the United States such as the University of Alabama, the University of Memphis, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
McGee was one of the founders of the American Communication Association and a member of the National Communication Association.