Claim: Marshall McLuhan was a college student.

Herbert Marshall McLuhan , -LRB- July 21 , 1911 -- December 31 , 1980 -RRB- was a Canadian professor , philosopher , and public intellectual . His work is viewed as one of the cornerstones of the study of media theory , as well as having practical applications in the advertising and television industries . He was educated at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge ; he began his teaching career as a Professor of English at several universities in the U.S. and Canada before moving to the University of Toronto , where he remained for the rest of his life .   McLuhan is known for coining the expression `` the medium is the message '' and the term global village , and for predicting the World Wide Web almost thirty years before it was invented . He was a fixture in media discourse in the late 1960s , though his influence began to wane in the early 1970s . In the years after his death , he continued to be a controversial figure in academic circles . With the arrival of the internet , however , interest has renewed in his work and perspective .