Whittier Has McBride Mania!
Specializing in Soviet and Russian history, Professor Mike McBride became infatuated with Russia and its history when he visited Chicago with his father, who had been attending a meeting for work. “It was ten degrees below zero that day. We decided we would go see a movie to get out of the cold and that movie was Doctor Zhivago. Even though it wasn’t filmed in Russia, I kind of fell in love with the idea, the story, the country and the scenery they were depicting,” he recalled. From this point on, McBride had a good idea of what specific career he wanted to pursue.
McBride or better known as “Doc” by his students, was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. Only being there for a year until he moved to Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana where he grew up for a majority of his childhood. He claims his family had a “positive, Midwest family relationship,” and he had a ton of support from them to achieve his career aspirations. McBride attended high school in Gary, Indiana until going to Purdue University where he would ultimately receive his B.A./M.A./PhD. Family, teachers, and colleagues have all been influential in where McBride ended up on his journey, he credits all those who have impacted him.
Being a teacher was always McBrides aspiration, specifically teaching in college. To him, it was always about educating the next generation of students. Initially, he thought chemistry or math would be his focus of teaching because he seemed to excel in those specific fields. However, he did not enjoy these options. His interest for political science came from his very own professors that made it enjoyable for him, especially giving credit to a professor of his at Purdue University, who taught Russian and Soviet Politics.
It was in 1969 when McBride made his way to Whittier College. As McBride finished graduate school, he looked around, sending out resumes to multiple schools with available positions. He had three offers from schools, Whittier College being one of them. Whittier College sent an invitation to McBride for an interview. When he came to this school, McBride fell in love with the campus and community. He claims the weather in California was much different in comparison to where he was originally at. Additionally, it was a much different environment that he could raise a family in. Whittier offered McBride the job and he took it.
Teaching students has never gotten old for McBride; he said “[Because of] the field I’m in, Political Science, things change everyday.” When he started out, Leonid Brezhnev was the head of the Soviet Union, eventually there would be multiple leaders of the Soviet Union. McBride has taught over 40 different courses during his time at Whittier: classes that include International Relations, Human Rights & Humanitarian Assistance, Model UN Conference, International Organizations, Russian Politics, Normative Political Theory, and Baseball in Literature and Film.
McBride expressed why he has such a love for the sport of baseball, “I grew to love [baseball] because of my father.” He mentioned the ending of the movie The Natural, where Robert Reddford is playing catch with his son, reminding him of what he and his father did. McBride played in many baseball leagues up until high school. McBride helped start the softball program here at Whittier College (he and two other individuals at Whittier came together to do it). A few women came to them in an effort to bring back softball at Whittier College; in 1980 the program was brought back. Ever since, McBride has been part of the softball program in one form or another. Currently, McBride is the Assistant Coach for Poets’ softball.
Most notably, McBride is known for being part of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It started when he was in New York on a sabbatical, with free time on his hands. A close friend of McBride, who was also a former student of his, worked as an intern in the UNHCR office in New York. Therefore, he decided to join his close friend in visiting the offices and meeting people in charge there. He was willing to volunteer at the program in order to get his foot in the door. His partaking in affiliation with UNHCR began in 1993.
McBride and his colleague were able to set up an internship program in partnership with UNHCR, which sent a handful of interns from Whittier College to work for UNHCR for nearly three decades. McBride is a volunteer consultant for UNHCR, but has worked on special projects and worked with executive committees, while also covering meetings of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Counsel for the New York office. He served on the Secretariat at UNHCR’s annual Executive Committee Session each October for 15 years. “It gives me a lot of great stories I can bring back to Whittier,” McBride said. For him, being there and getting to mingle with these high level officials has been the highlight of his time with UNHCR, while making close friends with those he has crossed paths with in his time.
A great variety of articles have been published by McBride on topics, such as Soviet politics, migration issues, simulation, baseball, public hearings, and education. McBride has written speeches for the United Nations General Assembly’s Third Committee and contributed to the annual reports of UNHCR to the General Assembly. He is most proud of one that appeared in the American Political Science Review, due to its prestige and the degree of difficulty to get into. However, he is proud of all that he has written throughout his career. Of all McBride’s speeches, he was only worried about the backlash he would receive in regards to when he spoke about President Nixon’s foreign policy at Friendly Hills Country Club here in the city of Whittier. Nixon’s older brother was in the audience at the time he spoke about this topic, he was critical of Nixon.
In terms of Whittier College itself, McBride is proud of the faculty brought into the Political Science department over the years. He is proud of what the Whittier College alumni have done since going off to do their own things. He mentioned multiple individuals who have been successful and accomplished a lot since their departures from Whittier.
Despite all this, McBride plans to retire from full-time teaching in the next year, “I want to be able to travel with my wife, while I still can,” he said. McBride wants to spend his time with his wife and two daughters, both of whom are successful women in the veterinary field, as well as his grandkids. McBride is proud of the alumni he has taught and been able to help on their successful paths. His legacy can be summed up in one word, “educator.” Professor Mike McBride has been an influential individual at Whittier College, leaving his imprint on Whittier’s Political Science department.
