COLLEGE STATION, Texas (March 10, 2009) -- How does one say "thank-you" to a person who has spent 50 years touching lives? The Philosophy Department at Texas A&M University will do so with a daylong celebration of the life and work of Professor John J. McDermott on Sunday, March 15 at the Hilton College Station and Conference Center. At 6:30 p.m. a banquet meal will be provided for those who are in attendance.

The celebration, which will run from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., will include presentations by noted scholars, testimonials from McDermott's students, colleagues and friends and reflections by McDermott. The event has been organized to provide everyone in attendance with multiple opportunities to visit with Professor McDermott.

Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Texas A&M University, McDermott has been teaching for more than fifty years. His concentration is on the philosophy of culture, literature, medicine and classical American philosophy. McDermott has edited The Writings of William James: A Comprehensive Edition, (Random House, 1967; University of Chicago Press, 1977); The Writings of Josiah Royce; The Philosophy of John Dewey, in two volumes (Putnam, 1973; University of Chicago Press, 1981); and was general editor of The Correspondence of William James, in 12 volumes (University of Virginia Press, 1992-2004).

Recent publications include a collection of McDermott's philosophical essays, The Drama of Possibility: Experience as Philosophy of Culture (Fordham 2007), and a festschrift in his honor, Experience as Philosophy: On the Work of John J. McDermott (Fordham, 2006).

The event is co-sponsored by the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Society for Advancement of American Philosophy.

Dr. McDermott is also a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Humanities in Medicine at the College of Medicine (http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/basic-sciences/him/faculty/john-mcdermott.html).