Paul Theobald holds the Woods-Beals Endowed Chair in Urban and Rural Education at Buffalo State College. He is a nationally known scholar and expert on the history of education in the United States, whose work frequently crosses disciplinary boundaries. Theobald is an advocate of “place-based” education, which involves using the surrounding community as a resource in the classroom.

Theobold’s works have been published in Educational Theory, American Journal of Education, Journal of Educational Studies, Journal of Educational Thought, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, American Historical Review, Educational Foundations and the History of Education Quarterly.

His first book, Call School: Rural Education in the Midwest to 1918 has remained the definitive study on the history of rural education in this country for the past 14 years. His second book, Teaching the Commons: Place, Pride and the Renewal of Community, an intellectual history that weaves in philosophical themes in an attempt to build a new vision for educational ends, has been a veritable bestseller in graduate education classes. His latest book, Education Now: How Rethinking America’s Past Can Change Its Future, has been released in paperback.