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Robert McDermott is retired American academic.[1] He is president emeritus of theCalifornia Institute of Integral Studies inSan Francisco where he also served as a professor ofphilosophy andreligion.
McDermott earned aMaster of Arts fromEmory University and received his PhD in 1969 in philosophy fromBoston University.[2]
He was anassistant professor of Indian and Western philosophy atManhattanville College from 1964 to 1971.[3] During this period, he was secretary of theAmerican Academy of Religion from 1968 to 1971.[3]
McDermott was a professor and later chair of the Department of Philosophy atBaruch College,CUNY where he taught from 1971 to 1990, at which point he was granted emeritus status. While at Baruch, he served as secretary treasurer of the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy from 1972 to 1976.
McDermott served as president of the California Institute of Integral Studies from 1990 to 1999 and remained on the faculty until his retirement in 2022.[4][1]
He is the founding chair of the board of Sophia Project (two homes inOakland, California, for mothers and children at risk of homelessness), and has been chair of the board and president of many other institutions. He is a teacher and former board chair of theRudolf Steiner Institute.
He has written a number of books, as well as essays published in scholarly journals and anthologies. His essays have appeared inInternational Philosophical Quarterly,Cross Currents,Journal of the American Academy of Religion, andPhilosophy East and West.
Topics on which he has written or lectured include the evolution of consciousness, the spiritual mission of America, classic and modern spirituality and spiritual masters (East and West),Sri Aurobindo, and Rudolf Steiner andAnthroposophy.