 Following his time in the service, he attended the University of Michigan (he was the first person in his family to attend college), where he earned a bachelor's degree and a Master of Business Administration.After leaving school in 1949, McCardell became a financial analyst at the Ford Motor Company, and was appointed secretary-treasurer of Ford's operation in Australia and later director of finance for Ford's division in West Germany.McCardell became group president for corporate services at Xerox in 1966.