Daniel McCue graduated from Newman in 1994. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and in 2000 earned his Master's Degree in Secondary Education, also from Notre Dame. In 2020, he completed his PhD in Educational Leadership at Spaulding University. His dissertation was titled “Relationship between Course Placement Criteria and Mathematics Achievement in an All-Boys Catholic School.” In addition, he published a review of Mark S. Massa’s book Catholics and American Culture: Fulton Sheen, Dorothy Day and the Notre Dame Football Team in the Journal of Catholic Education.
After Daniel graduated from college, he entered the ACE (Alliance for Catholic Education) program through Notre Dame. He taught high school Math in Mobile, Alabama for six years at a salary of $10,000 per year. After two years, at the age of 24, Daniel was named Math Department Chair. During his tenure, he increased the number of students taking Calculus from 15-50. Daniel then decided to make education his career and moved to Louisville, Kentucky, and St. Xavier High School.
Daniel has taught most math courses including AP Calculus, Calculus and Physics. He started an Engineering course at St. Xavier which has turned into two courses with multiple sections. He is in charge of the scroll’s Innovation Lab, an avid proponent of STEM education and St. Xavier’s STREAM Coordinator. In this position, he encourages teachers to take an interdisciplinary approach to Math and Science education. In 2016, he joined St. Xavier students and two other faculty members on a service trip to Belize. Together with the family’s father, they built a house in one week. When the pandemic began in April 2020, Daniel and his students joined the University of Louisville to produce parts for face shields using the high school’s 3-D printers. After the University of Louisville project wound down, he started making entire face shields by himself using the school’s laser. He donated these shields to local organizations and any that were left over were used by St. Xavier teachers when school reopened.
Daniel was a Notre Dame Scholar, awarded to the top 10% of incoming freshmen and was honored by the Notre Dame Alumni Association for “Singular Contribution to the Education of Youth.” At St. Xavier, Daniel was named Assistant (football) Coach of the Year, awarded the Joseph F. Maupin Award which is given to a coach who also demonstrates excellence in the classroom and the Xaverian Brothers Faculty Excellence Award. In 2019, Daniel was named one of two endowed Faculty Fellows, a lifetime designation for distinguishing oneself as a master teacher and mentor to students as well as an academic leader among peers.
Daniel has been teaching for over 20 years, but a lesson he learned during his fourth year at St, Xavier still resonates with him. Yearbook Day was a big deal at St. Xavier so he passed his around to his PreCalc students. Two of them wrote this half page message: National Holiday March 13, 2002, 12:12p.m., Mr. McCue admits to making a mistake. Daniel laughed, but then realized that every interaction with his students teaches them something; the things said or unsaid, the things done or not done, Daniel said that “this seemingly innocent comment helped me appreciate the fact that every world that comes out of my mouth might impact a student.” That note serves as a constant reminder to Daniel that, as a teacher, his words and actions matter.
Daniel is the son of Newman Alumnus, Joseph and Teresa Baeza McCue. He was nominated by his sister, Tara McCue Propheter, ‘95. In her narrative, she stated that Daniel “is an example of someone who has remained dedicated to his faith and continues to give back to the Catholic Community.” She also said that when she read the newspaper article about making the PPE face shields she was “in awe of my brother and the amount of time and energy he gave helping with a project that would benefit so many people.” She concluded, “Daniel has never been one to brag or boast his own accomplishments, so I value this opportunity to do it for him.”
