Professor Catherine McCormick Retires

Professor of Biology and Neuroscience Catherine McCormick arrived in Oberlin in 1986 with two federal grants—one from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and one from the National Institutes of Health—for her research on the early evolution of the vertebrate auditory system.

Those grants, along with subsequent ones from the NSF and Oberlin College, allowed her research program to thrive, she says, and made her 27 years at Oberlin “an adventure in teaching and research.” McCormick’s research has interfaced in many ways with the courses she has taught in the biology and neuroscience departments.

“These departments and the college as a whole have provided a wonderful and supportive environment for my career as a teacher-scholar,” she says.

Students contributed significantly to her research, a fact most recently highlighted by her 2012 publication in the journal Brain, Behavior and Evolution with biology major Abigail Wallace ’05.

With the support of the biology and neuroscience departments, McCormick plans to conclude and publish several lines of research currently in progress.