MacIntyre was educated at the institution now known as Queen Mary, University of London, and has a Master of Arts from the University of Manchester and the University of Oxford. He began his lecturing career in 1951 at Manchester University. He taught at the University of Leeds, the University of Essex and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, before moving to the USA in around 1969. MacIntyre has been something of an intellectual nomad, having taught at many universities in the US. He has held the following positions: