Reverse atom transfer radical polymerization (RATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) under microwave irradiation (MI), using azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) /FeCl3/triphenylphosphine (PPh3) as the initiating system, was successfully carried out in N, N-dimethylformamide (DMT) at 69degreesC. Plots of In ([M](0)/[M]) vs. time and molecular weight evolution vs. conversion showed a linear dependence. A polymer for reaching 82% conversion, with molecular weight (M-n) 34,000 and polydispersity index (PDI) 1.37, was obtained under MI (90W) with the ratio of [MMA](0)/[AIBN](0)/[FeCl3](0)/[PPh3](0) = 1600/2/4/8 in only 60 min; while 840 min was required under conventional heating (CH) process for reaching 82 % conversion (M-n = 48,000 and PDI = 1.31) at identical polymerization conditions, indicating a significant enhancement of the polymerization rates and apparent initiator efficiencies under NH.