Glenn McGee image

``... to cease to think creatively is to cease to live, but thought must be guided by principle.`` - Benjamin Franklin

For 31 years, Glenn McGee has identified novel solutions to some of the most pressing and difficult ethical issues in biotechnology and medicine. Best known as the author of three highly-cited books, on the impact of reproductive technology on parenthood (The Perfect Baby, Rowman & Littlefield), the power of genetic information (Beyond Genetics, William Morrow), and a bioethics casebook (Bioethics for Beginners, Wiley), he has also authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in medical, scientific, legal and humanities journals and edited several books. Glenn is also the founder of The American Journal of Bioethics, which he led as the first Editor-in-Chief from 1999-2011, and has been a syndicated columnist for Hearst Newspapers as well as a regular columnist for The Scientist and MSNBC.

After a decade at University of Pennsylvania as Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics and Associate Director of Education (1995-05), he was named the John A. Balint Chair in Medical Ethics at Albany Medical College (2005-08) and founding director of the Alden March Bioethics Institute (AMBI). He was then installed as the John B. Francis Chair at the Center for Practical Bioethics in 2009. In 2013 he joined the University of New Haven as Professor of Management, Health Policy, and of Philosophy, then in 2019 was named Deputy Provost. He joined Salem Academy and College in October 2021 as its Dean of Admissions and as Professor of Health Science, where he served until July 2025.

Academic Positions

  • 20051995

    Assistant Professor

    University of Pennsylvania, Center for Bioethics and Departments of Molecular and Cellular Engineering, Philosophy, History & Sociology of Science

  • 20082005

    John A. Balint Endowed Chair of Medical Ethics

    Albany Medical College (Also: Full Professor of Medicine (tenured); Director, Alden March Bioethics Institute)

  • 20102006

    Clinical Professor

    SUNY School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management

  • 20112009

    John B. Francis Endowed Chair in Bioethics

    Center for Practical Bioethics

  • 20212014

    Professor of Business and of Health Sciences

    University of New Haven Pompea College of Business & School of Health Sciences

  • Current2021

    Professor of Health Science & Dean of Admissions

    Salem College

Education & Training

  • B.A. 1990

    Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy

    Baylor University

  • A.M. 1993

    Master of Arts in Philosophy

    Vanderbilt University

  • Ph.D. 1994

    Doctor of Philosophy

    Vanderbilt University

  • PostDoc 1994

    Post-doctoral Fellowship

    U.S. National Institutes of Health, Human Genome Center at University of Iowa

Selected Honors & Awards

  • 2010
    Food and Drug Administration Outstanding Service Award
    Awarded for outstanding service on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Cellular and Molecular Devices Advisory Panel.
  • 2008
    150 Most Outstanding Graduates of Baylor University 1808-2008
    As selected by Baylor Alumni Associated
  • 2007
    Lifetime Achievement Award
    Awarded by the Appignani Humanities Center and Foundation at the United Nations
  • 2005
    University of Pennsylvania Provost's Spotlight on Teaching Citation
    Awarded by the Provost of the University of Pennsylvania to eight professors for outstanding undergraduate teaching in the College of Arts & Sciences
  • 2007
    Selection: The University of Texas Annual Dean's Debates
    Selected to debate William Hurlbut concerning ``Sources of Stem Cells``
  • 2005
    Carson Lectureship of Boston College
    Delivered at the College with introduction by John Paris, March 2005
  • 2005
    Leader Lectures of University of Michigan School of Public Health
    At the National Biotechnology Conference of Michigan's School of Public Health
  • 2004
    Amos Adams Lawrence Lectures of Lawrence University
    Delivered in a series at Lawrence in January 2004
  • 2003
    100th Anniversary Roine Lecture of Mecklinberg County Medical Society
    At a joint meeting with the Bioethics Resource Group of North Carolina
  • 2001
    Matthew Vandivier Sims Memorial Lectures of Indiana University
    Delivered at IU South Bend in April 2001
  • 2003
    69th Annual City of Tulsa Town Hall Lectures
    Delivered to the public in Tulsa's largest town auditorium, one of the U.S.' largest ``city lectureships``
  • 2003
    Lyon's Daughters' Lectures of University of Rochester
    Offered by the University of Rochester Medical School and University of Rochester Press
  • 2003
    Seaver College Dean's Lectures of Pepperdine University
    An open lectureship selected by the Dean of the College of Letters and Sciences
  • 2002, 2001
    Yale Law and Technology Lectures (twice)
    At the Yale Law School
  • 2014
    Patterson Lectures of UTMB Institute for Medical Humanities
    Galveston, May 2002
  • 2000
    Henry Howe Chan Memorial Lecture of Medical College Wisconsin
    at MCW, an annual lecture in medical ethics and humanities
  • 2000
    Outstanding American Speeches of the 20th Century
    Address to the Advisory Committee on Human Cloning of the Department of Health Services, Genetic Disease Branch, at Berkeley, published in the volume Outstanding American Speeches of the 20th Century
  • 1997
    Herndon Lectures in Ethics of Emory University
    November 1997 at invitation of James Fowler
  • 1998
    Scandanavian Biotechnology Society Lectureship at Bergen, Oslo and Helsinki