McVey concludes 101st consecutive semester teaching at Lipscomb

German and Russian Professor Charlie McVey, lovingly known by students as “Herr McVey,” has a long history with Lipscomb University. Not only was McVey a student here, but he has taught 101 consecutive semesters at the university, alongside 40 summer semesters.

“I graduated from Lipscomb with a degree in German in 1967,” McVey said. “Then I went on into life. Grad school, military, grad school again. Then I was at a language conference as I was finishing grad school, in the spring of 1975, in Knoxville, Tennessee… I met up with several of the language professors from [Lipscomb] that I had known while I was there, and they were about retirement age.”

“They told me the German professor was about to move over to the library and not teach German anymore, and asked me if I wanted his position. And I said ‘yes! I need a job.’ That was the fall of 1975, and I’m still here,” he laughed.

Speaking German and Russian, McVey has taught both over his time at Lipscomb. He has also been heavily involved with multiple different cultural groups on campus, introducing students to various cultures. Over the years, he’s taken students to the Middle Tennessee Highland Games, the Wilson County Powwow and many other events.

“I just love to learn about other cultures, and learn new languages,” McVey said. Languages are definitely his forte. Not only does he speak English, Russian and German, but he also dabbled in American Sign Language and Scots Gaelic, and knows enough about many other languages – such as Greek and Latin – to trace the etymologies of German and other words.

McVey also helped start Lipscomb’s Global Learning program in Vienna, Austria. He went overseas with the first group of 30 students in 1996, and returned to Vienna for 17 years to lead the students and faculty in a sort of cultural orientation.

“It’s watching students catch onto something,” McVey said, about his favorite part of teaching, both in the United States and Austria. “Watching students go ‘ah, oh my!” as they’re learning things about another culture that they hadn’t known before.”

Despite having taught for 51 straight years, many of which teaching overtime, alongside 40 summer semesters, McVey also has a very full life outside of classes. Living on a “farmette” outside of Lebanon, Tennessee, he raises Scottish Highland sheep alongside a pack of rescued dogs. In the past, he and his wife have also raised chickens and emus.

“We rescued dogs for about ten years,” he explained. “And my wife was very into the fiber arts, so she decided we needed our own sheep,” he added with a laugh.

McVey also enjoys playing the guitar, particularly Celtic ballads and some German folk music, and the Native American flute. Before teaching, he was a translator for the Air Force, working with Russian and German during the Vietnam War and the Cold War. With such a varied skillset, whenever he decides to retire one thing is for sure, Herr McVey will not be bored.