Paul Reville is the Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). He is also the founding faculty director of HGSE’s EdRedesign Lab, a national field catalyst for the place-based, cradle-to-career movement begun by the Harlem Children’s Zone.
In 2013, he completed nearly five years of service as the Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As former Gov. Deval Patrick’s top education adviser, Paul established the Executive Office of Education and had oversight of higher education, K-12, and early education in the nation’s leading student achievement state. He served in the governor’s cabinet and played a leading education reform role on matters ranging from the Achievement Gap Act of 2010 and Common Core State Standards to the Commonwealth’s highly successful Race to the Top proposal.
Prior to joining the Patrick administration, Paul chaired the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, founded the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy, co-founded the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE), chaired the Massachusetts Reform Review Commission, chaired the Massachusetts Commission on Time and Learning, and served as executive director of the Pew Forum on Standards-Based Reform — a national think tank which convened the country’s leading researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to set the national standards agenda. He also played a central role in MBAE’s development of and advocacy for Massachusetts’ historic Education Reform Act of 1993.
Paul’s career, which combines research, policy, and practice, began with service as a VISTA volunteer youth worker. He served as a teacher and principal of two urban, alternative high schools. Some years later, he founded a local education foundation which was part of the Public Education Network. He is a board member and adviser to a host of organizations, and a frequent writer and speaker on education reform and policy issues. Paul holds a bachelor’s degree from Colorado College, a master’s degree from Stanford University, and five honorary doctoral degrees.
