from Amherst College in American studies (1969) and subsequently a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in History (1976) from Yale University.

McCormick served as vice chancellor and provost at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1992 to 1995.

McCormick won campuswide support by emphasizing the academic aspects of the center and helped initiate a fundraising campaign to build it.

He launched an annual faculty bus tour to encourage the university to adopt a statewide perspective.

In 2006, the university's Board of Governors approved his plan to reorganize the undergraduate colleges on the New Brunswick campus into a School of Arts and Sciences and School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, eliminating contradictory admissions and curriculum standards among these undergraduate colleges and emphasizing faculty-student interaction.

Some students and alumni criticized the plan, arguing that it sacrifices Rutgers' unique institutional history and culture.

He targeted research areas of particular interest to the state (transportation, nutrition, homeland security, climate change), and in 2008 announced Rutgers Against Hunger [2], an initiative to stock food banks in the state, provide consumer education on nutrition, and help community organizations fight hunger.

In 2008, McCormick established the Rutgers Future Scholars [4] Program in conjunction with a series of initiatives designed to increase the diversity of the university population.

Each year, a new cohort of fifty rising eighth-grade students from each of the university's host cities of Newark, Camden, New Brunswick, and Piscataway begins a five-year process of regular visits to campus, college preparation activities, and mentoring, with the guarantee of free tuition at Rutgers for all those who earn admission after high school.

He made new investments in Rutgers’ campuses, responding to student demand for additional housing, classroom repairs, and renovated or expanded student-life facilities.

Some detractors said the designs, including those of the winning firm, were too modern for the historic campus, but others praised the proposed use of open space and planned transportation improvements.

Two-thirds of the campaign goal was raised during McCormick's tenure, the largest donation being a $27 million gift for endowed professorships.