Born on September 18, 1800, McGuffey began his interest in teaching early. His first teaching job was at age thirteen. But his first big job was at Miami University as a teacher of languages in 1826. After that, he went to the University of Cincinnati, where he was president for three years. He afterwards became the president of the Ohio College at Athens, where he stayed until 1843. McGuffey ended his teaching life as a Moral Philosophy professor at Virginia University. He died on May 4, 1873, after short illness. McGuffey may have lived for only 73 years, but the impact of the Readers will last a long time after, being passed down from generation to generation.