2025 Graduate Feature: Graydon McGrannahan

Music Professor Found a New Path in the Law After Unexpected Diagnosis 

Graydon McGrannahan grew up surrounded by music. His parents met as music majors in college, and he spent his childhood attending concerts and playing piano and trombone. At 14, he landed his first professional gig as a trombonist. He later earned three degrees in music and became a music professor.

“That was part of my DNA,” he said of his passion for music and the trombone.

However, in 2015, McGrannahan learned that cancer treatments from nearly 15 years earlier had caused significant hearing loss. At the time, his wife was pregnant and doctors said he would need to give up music if he wanted to hear his child speak to him one day.

Faced with this life-changing news, McGrannahan had to find a new path. That journey led him to law school, where he recently graduated as part of the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law Class of 2025.

The years following the discovery of his hearing loss were a rollercoaster. “I had this ultimate low where my identity was just thrown off the curb,” he said. But McGrannahan said he also felt the amazing high of becoming a dad.

After spending a decade as a music professor at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, McGrannahan and his family made the decision to relocate to Reno, Nevada, his hometown. Upon his return, he enrolled in a variety of classes as he considered a new direction for his career. One of those classes, “Legal and Ethical Issues in Higher Education,” introduced McGrannahan to the beautiful complexities of the law. 

It was McGrannahan’s stepfather—a practicing attorney in Reno—who first suggested he consider the legal field, by becoming his paralegal at his law firm. Although McGrannahan initially dismissed the suggestion, modestly describing himself as “just a trombone player,” he agreed to give it a try. Before long, he found himself intellectually engaged by the work, honing his writing skills and contemplating the possibility of attending law school.

When it was time to start applying for law schools, McGrannahan and his wife chose to move to Kentucky to be closer to family. Having spent summers in the state with his grandparents since he was a child, McGrannahan already had ties to the area. 

Then he had to overcome some challenges.

“I had to learn to be a student again,” McGrannahan recalled. “That was difficult.” He also sometimes struggled to hear in class, but his professors and peers were eager to help. McGrannahan said one reason he loved attending UK Rosenberg College of Law was the camaraderie among his classmates.

“I love my class so much because we all respected each other,” he said. “For the most part, we all were just sort of in this together.”

Now, as a recent law graduate, McGrannahan plans to remain in Kentucky to practice law.