After graduating from Bucknell University with a dual BA in International Affairs and Russian Studies, his post-graduate work was undertaken at Columbia University, where he earned an MA and an M.Phil in Political Science and a PhD in International Relations. He also completed MA-level Certificate programs in Russian Studies and in the Study of east & Central Europe. Subsequently, he completed a Certificate in Education Management at Harvard University (2005), as well as Certificates from the World Bank Institute on “Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations & Fiscal Decentralization” and on “Public Expenditure, Institutional Reforms & Service Delivery.” Dr. McGrath was awarded a Foreign and Commonwealth Research Fellowship (taken at the LSE) and a Research Fellowship at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Oxford University (London and Oxford, UK [for Sir Michael Howard]), and has served on Fulbright and Muskie Selection Committees.
In addition to various academic appointments in the US, Dr. McGrath has worked as a faculty and administrator at universities in Albania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, the Pacific Islands, Nigeria, and Russia. He also worked in with Native Americans (Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas), helped run a training programs for students from various nationalities.