Maurice James "Mac" McGarry (June 15, 1926 – December 12, 2013) was the longtime host of the television quiz show It's Academic, which airs in Washington, D.C., on NBC-owned WRC-TV.

During this time, he was also making his first forays into television covering Harry S. Truman's presidential inauguration events for NBC-TV and appearing regularly on NBC's The Big Preview.

[4] From that time until the onset of illness in 2011, he hosted numerous talk shows, including In Our Town, the first weekly television program to be broadcast in color.

[5] Some of McGarry's first assignments included announcing news of the start of the Korean War and introducing President Truman from the White House.

Although McGarry's intentions were to continue hosting the 51st season of It's Academic, he announced his retirement in early November 2011 due to health issues.