Dr. McLennan received his B.A. and Ph.D. from the University at Buffalo (UB). He then spent three more years at UB on a post-doc position, gaining additional research experience.

Dr. McLennan's research program, which has received funding from the National Institutes of Health: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIH: NIDCD), explores the representations and processes involved in the perception of spoken language.

His interest in language dates back to (at least) high school, when he first became enamored with the Spanish language. After majoring in Spanish in high school and college (he received a B.A. with a double major in Spanish and Psychology), he became interested in languages more generally, and decided to pursue graduate work in cognitive psychology and to work with Dr. Luce in the Language Perception Laboratory.

Dr. McLennan began his career at Cleveland State University in August 2006. In addition to being an active researcher, Dr. McLennan teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in cognitive psychology and related areas (see "Courses Taught" for more information), he is a core member of the Undergraduate Program Committee, the Experimental Research Program M.A. Committee, the Adult Development and Aging Ph.D. Program Committee, a previous Director of the Honors Program in Psychology, and a Member of several other committees at the Department, College, and University levels.

Dr. McLennan also serves as the primary mentor and advisor to several students, including supervising undergraduate honors theses, M.A. theses, and doctoral dissertations. He has published his work in top-tier professional journals, has been nominated three times for the Outstanding Student Employer of the Year Award, the 2013 winner of the College Outstanding Teaching Award (and nominated two time previously), has received a Merit Award every time he has been eligible (three times), and has served as a Distinguished Educator for Turning Technologies.