In this interview, David Zierler, Oral Historian for AIP, interviews Gareth McKinley, School of Engineering Professor of Teaching Innovation at MIT. McKinley recounts his childhood in England and his early interests in math and science. He describes his decision to study at Cambridge, where he pursued an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering, and where he participated in the Cambridge Air Squadron flying Bulldog planes. McKinley discusses his reasons for staying on at Cambridge for his MA, and his considerations about entering industry. He describes the events leading to his PhD work at MIT, and he reflects on the cultural differences he experienced in the other Cambridge. McKinley describes the research he was doing under the support of Reagans SDI program, and his dissertation work studying the nonlinear dynamics of viscoelastic flow in complex geometries. He recounts his decision to turn down an offer from DuPont and to join the faculty at Harvard. McKinley discusses his early exposure to rheology and his work at the Isaac Newton Institute, and he discusses his switch to MIT. He explains his research in the microfluids lab, his tenure as director of the Program in Polymer Science and Technology, and his work developing patents for research projects which had commercial viability. In the last portion of the interview, McKinley explains the advantages and pleasures of pursuing his research within a multidisciplinary framework, and he describes the history and contemporary development in the field of rheology.