McKeachie, Wilbert 8/24/1921 - 6/12/2019 Dexter Professor Doctor Wilbert (Bill) James McKeachie passed away peacefully in the company of loved ones on June 12th, 2019. He was 97 years old. Dr McKeachie was an exceptional human being who led a long, rich, and joyful life. He married his college sweetheart, Virginia (Ginny) Mack, with whom he enjoyed 74 loving years of marriage. They raised two daughters and were blessed with a granddaughter as well as a great-granddaughter. He was a devoted family man, a skilled pianist who was passionate about music, a lover of card games, and a legendary fastpitch softball pitcher. The game of softball was more than a hobby for Dr McKeachie. He played on intramural, church, and city leagues, and softball was an essential activity at family gatherings. McKeachie said his most memorable year was 1976, when he pitched three no-hitters and served as president of the American Psychological Association. Religious faith was an essential component of Dr McKeachie's life. He and Ginny were active members of the first Baptist Church of Ann Arbor for over 70 years. They enjoyed singing together in the choir, playing handbells, and he served on many boards. Born in Clarkston, Michigan in 1921, Bill graduated first from Holly High School, then Michigan Normal College (now EMU) in 1942. In 1945, following service in World War II as a radar and communications officer on a destroyer in the Pacific, he enrolled in graduate school at the University of Michigan to study psychology. After completion of his doctorate in 1949, McKeachie continued with the University of Michigan as a professor and researcher in the fields of psychology and education. Dr Mckeachie remained with the University of Michigan until his retirement in 1992. During his tenure, he served 10 years as Chair of the Department of Psychology, authored numerous books, monographs, chapters, and articles. Dr Mckeachie is best known professionally for his influential and beloved book, McKeachie's Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers, now in its 14th edition, which has helped college educators world-wide to become better teachers. In monumental service to his profession, he held numerous leadership roles including the presidency of the American Psychological Association, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, and the American Association of Higher Education. His illustrious career was recognized by numerous prestigious awards, and 8 honorary degrees. Dr Mckeachie was a truly great man who left nothing in this life undone. He will always be treasured for his thoughtfulness, generosity, and for the many lives he touched with kindness the world over. He was predeceased by his wife Virginia (Mack) McKeachie, daughter Karen McKeachie and sister Joyce (McKeachie) Doerner. Dr McKeachie is survived by daughter Linda Dicks (Larry) of Dexter, granddaughter Erica Wallace of Dexter, great-granddaughter Addy Carter of Flat Rock, brothers Mel McKeachie of Wooster, Ohio and Duane McKeachie of Flint, sister-in-law Mildred (Millie) Danielson of Ann Arbor, son-in-law Lew Kidder of Ann Arbor, and numerous nephews, nieces and cousins. A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, July 13, 2019 at First Baptist Church of Ann Arbor at 1pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Border to Border Trail or First Baptist Church of Ann Arbor.

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Published by Ann Arbor News from Jun. 18 to Jun. 23, 2019.

Memories and Condolences
for Wilbert McKeachie

Sponsored by The Family.

18 Entries

William (Bill) Herman, Ph.D. (U of M class of 1987)

June 12, 2025

My Mentor Bill continues to be a great loss for the world, but his legacy lives onward. I learned from Bill how to lift-up and offer more public recognition for those who worked in the shadows and were not given the credit that they deserve. Now as a SUNY Emeritus Professor of Psychology looking back at his career, I see where I often delighted in helping students and colleagues un-cover neglected or unfairly represented research studies and theories found in textbooks, professional articles, public lectures, and electronic databases. Bill, we deeply miss you but try to carry-on your legacy as best that we can.

William (Bill) Herman, Ph.D.

June 12, 2024

Not a day goes by that I do not think of the influence of my mentor and friend, Bill McKeachie, from the University of Michigan where I earned my Ph.D. in educational psychology in 1987. Bill will be remembered for his knowledge, wisdom, openness, approachability, vision, collegiality, and personal support of my professional career. May his wealth of professional publications and well documented influence upon those across many generations serve to inspire young teachers, scholars and researchers who did not have the chance to meet and know Bill in person.

Bill Herman

June 12, 2023

Time marches onward year after year since his passing, but the influence of Bill McKeachie on my personal and professional life still continues on a daily basis. Although his physical presence is missed, I think of him often and at the most unsuspecting times and places. May his productive life never be forgotten, but may his life be used to chart the path forward in his memory.

Bill Herman

June 16, 2022

I have thought of Bill McKeachie many times each year, since his passing. It is his devotion to empirical research that I wish to reflect upon today. Bill told me that, if he ran a research study and the results were favorable (statistically significant), he would select a new and different sample to make certain that the results were similar to his results and the findings were not an artifact of the initial/particular sample that he had chosen. I remain extremely proud of my doctoral research training at the University of Michigan and all that Bill McKeachie and many others taught me about quality research.

Patricia Keith-Spiegel

March 30, 2020

Bill is truly among the best human beings to ever walk this planet. I am grateful to have known him

Bill Herman

July 29, 2019

My deepest sympathies go out to the family of Bill McKeachie. The world has lost a great psychologist, dedicated family man, devoted teacher, and caring human being who sought to make and made this world a better place to live. Bill was my doctoral mentor and personal friend while at the University of Michigan and later he never ceased to support me in my professional career through the decades that followed my graduation in 1987. As an Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the State University of New York, I can proudly state that Bill was my mentor and role model, not just in my professional work, but in life as well.

July 2, 2019

Dear Linda and family,

First of all, I am sorry to hear that your father has passed. He was a man of many talents.

My first introduction to him came in 1967 through a textbook entitled Psychology: McKeachie and Doyle. That was the textbook we used in my introductory psychology class at Eastern Michigan University. Psychology was not my favorite subject, but I still thought his book was organized and well written.

Little did I know that I would meet the same Dr. McKeachie a year or two later on the softball fields in Ann Arbor. There he appeared as Bill McKeachie, the star pitcher of the Nuclear Nine fast pitch softball team. The Nuclear Nine had two principal players Dr. McKeachie and Dr. Al Storey, another professor at the University of Michigan. Bill pitched and Al served as the team's catcher. The rest of the team was a little more fluid. Most of the other players were graduate students at the University of Michigan, who were recruited to man the other positions on the team. I had the good fortune to have a umpired a number of their softball games in the 1960', 1970's and even a few of them in the 1980's. In 1976 I believe I umpired one of the no-hitters Dr. McKeachie pitched out at Lawton Park off of Mershon St. Three no-hitters in one season was an incredible feat.

The Nuclear Nine softball team was usually at the top or near the top of the Ann Arbor Recreation Department's Men's Municipal Fast Pitch Softball League standings at the conclusion of each season, but it wasn't their won-lost record that I remember about them as much as how they handled themselves on the field and the sportsmanship they exhibited. Some fast pitch teams let the competitive nature of the game interfere with the recreational component, but not the Nuclear Nine. Everyone of the players on the Nuclear Nine was a class act. To this day I believe the tone of play was set principally by two of the team's members, Dr. McKeachie and Dr. Storey. Fifty years later I still have fond memories of the games I umpired for them.

Please accept my heartfelt condolences and share them with the rest of the family. Your father was a man who wore many hats, and he wore them well. He had a full life, but he still will be sorely missed.

Larry Dishman

William Patterson

June 27, 2019

As a University of Michigan School of Music alumnus, I became a higher education faculty developer back in the mid-90s, and I was delighted to learn about Bill's deep-rooted, leading-edge work to continuously improve the impactfulness of the teaching and learning culture in higher education.

Whenever I heard the words "faculty development," I always thought of Bill.

I also had the great pleasure of meeting Bill at several of the Professional Organizational Development (POD) conferences, and what a delightful and warm human being he was!

Bill's transformative presence will be forever felt within the higher education faculty development/enrichment world, and his warm smile will be sorely missed.

MaryAnn Poel

June 23, 2019

Linda I am so sorry for the loss of your father and Mel and Duane for the loss of your brother. I will miss his sense of humor and quick wit. He was blessed with a life full of family, education and adventures. My thoughts and prayers are with all of your families. He will be missed.

Herb Hildebrandt

June 21, 2019

Bill easily blended scholarship with gregariousness. Over many years I sensed he comfortably blended those qualities. Meeting him was consistently like meeting a long-time friend. I have lost the wise voice of a colleague.

Mame Jackson

June 21, 2019

Bill McKeachie was one of the kindest, most generous and thoughtful people I have had the privilege of knowing. Respected and honored widely for his significant professional accomplishments as a scholar, teacher/mentor, and educational leader, Bill was also and perhaps foremost an intelligent, well-rounded, engaging, and insightful human being who used his gifts well and truly lived his belief that we all are our brothers' keepers. I will always remember Bill for his total engagement in life, for his joy in using his own very substantial gifts to aid the greater good for all, and for his commitment to support and inspire others and to offer a hand when their paths were rocky. Rest in peace, Bill Rest in power.

Stephen Ehrmann

June 20, 2019

When I first saw McKeachie's book (in the early 1980s, I think), I was transformed. It hadn't occurred to me yet that better ways of teaching had been studied, with actionable findings. It changed my life.

Bonnie Mullinix

June 20, 2019

Bill McKeachie was a luminary in the field of faculty and educational development. His work with the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and particularly it's Special Interest Group in Faculty Teaching, Evaluation and Development touched many practitioner researchers across the nation and the world. His professional connections also extended to the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education which touched more professionals. I was fortunate enough to work with Bill in both spheres and can attest to the fact that he will be missed and he will be remembered for many years to come.

Jane Elliott

June 19, 2019

I'm so sorry to hear of Dr. McKeachie's passing. I enjoyed working with him very much at the U of M back in the 1980's. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

Jens Zorn

June 19, 2019

Bill McKeachie was an inspiration for many younger faculty at Michigan, including those far from his field of psychology (physics in my case). His intellectual breadth, scholarly achievement, and administrative skill blended with his outgoing manner and personal warmth. We at the University of Michigan are fortunate to have had Bill McKeachie as a colleague for almost 60 years.

Andrea Wills

June 19, 2019

I am so sorry for your loss. I remember Mr.McKeachie from the First Baptist church in Ann Arbor many years ago. God Bless.

June 19, 2019

I spent many a memorable lunch hour playing Murder with Dr. McKeachie both in West Quad and later in East Hall. He was a deceptive card player, very laid back until he was ready to pounce. Boy did he enjoy the game! Once when I was relating several house-related calamities we had suffered, he offered me a loan. Just like that. A genuinely kind person who will be remembered fondly by many, many people. Maureen Lopez (former Asst to the Chair, Dept of Psychology)

Lynn Suits

June 19, 2019

Most wonderful and kind truly an inspiration to all he met.

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