Dr. Peter Paul
Dr. Peter V. Paul’s teaching, research, and service endeavors have contributed to the improvement of the educational and social lives of individuals with disabilities, particularly d/Deaf and hard of hearing individuals and those with multiple disabilities or who are members of minoritized, underserved populations. In classes that Dr. Paul teaches, university students are encouraged to not only develop an understanding of the content, but also to become strong advocates for individuals with disabilities. Dr. Paul pushes his university students to think deeply and critically about important issues in special education and in education at large. All students are exposed to developmental learning theories and evidence-infused practices that are applicable to a diverse range of children and adolescents in the K-12 educational contexts. Dr. Paul strives to facilitate the development of future critical-thinking educators, researchers, and leaders. His goal has always been to inflame the intellect of his students and to help them achieve their professional goals. With more than 270 scholarly publications, including 15 authored and edited books, Dr. Paul’s work has contributed to a better understanding of the development of language and literacy and to the promotion of inclusion of individuals with disabilities in general education settings. His two major frameworks, Literate Thought and the Qualitative Similarity Hypothesis, have formed the foundations for his scholarly research. These frameworks have also been used by other researchers and scholars to promote the inclusion of d/Deaf and hard of hearing individuals and others with disabilities in school settings. Dr. Paul’s work has resulted in the development of educational and curricular materials, including multimedia materials involving vocabulary and literacy. Dr. Paul has also been involved with the development of reading materials used by d/Deaf and hard of hearing school-age children and by other students in special education programs, including members of minoritized, underserved populations. Dr. Paul has been invited to present his work at a number of scholarly conferences at the state and national levels, and even internationally, particularly in Taiwan (several cities), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Ghent, Belgium, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In addition, due to his desire to reach a diverse audience, Dr. Paul has also worked with educators and parents, providing strategies for developing language and literacy skills. He has also presented his work to OSU students in service clubs and has given workshops for 12 years in the Summer at the Martin Essex Summer Program for the Gifted, held at Ohio State. Dr. Paul’s scholarship has attracted doctoral students from several international countries such as China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey. Upon the completion of their doctoral degrees, these students have returned to their countries to establish or enhance university teacher-preparation programs for special education students, including d/Deaf and hard of hearing students. With Dr. Paul as the major advisor, a deaf student from South Korea became the first deaf individual in her country to obtain a doctoral degree in special education.
It should also be noted that Dr Paul has hosted several international visiting scholars to OSU from China, Japan, and South Korea. He will host (and co-host) two future visiting scholars from Turkey, starting in February 2024. Dr. Paul has been the recipient of several state and federally funded grants as well as contracts to support graduate students in the area of sensory disabilities—deafness and blindness—at OSU. Notably, he collaborated with WGBH National Center for Accessible Media, Boston, MA (2001-2004) to secure two federal grants to develop and evaluate national reading curricular materials to be used by educators of children and adolescents who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing. Dr. Paul has had state-level grants (Ohio Department of Education) to fund a teacher preparation program for intervention specialists—education of the visually impaired (2004-2012). He has also secured state support for the development of the first program for the preparation of orientation & mobility professionals in the State of Ohio at OSU (2009-2020). Both programs are now led by faculty members in the College in the Department of Teaching & Learning. Dr. Paul has also contributed to the development of the American Sign Language program, now housed in the Arts & Sciences at OSU. Throughout his professional career, Dr. Paul has engaged in service activities within and outside the university. He has served as Department Chair (PAES and Teaching & Learning), Chair of Promotion & Tenure committees (Educational Studies and Teaching & Learning), Chair of the EHE College Council, Chair of Educational Studies’ Undergraduate Committee, and as a member of the College Curriculum Committee. He has also served as Program Chair of Special Education programs and is now Assistant Chair of the Unit/Section, which houses Special Education and Career & Technical Education programs.
Dr. Paul has also had leadership and membership positions within national professional organizations associated with his area of specialty, for example, Special Interest Groups of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the Convention of American Instructors of the Deaf (CAID). Dr. Paul is the current editor of the American Annals of the Deaf, Honorary Editor of Human Research in Rehabilitation, and is on the editorial board of several other journals. He has also engaged in organizations within the State of Ohio and locally such as OHIO SAFE: Schools are for Everyone and Parents, Administrators, and Teachers of Children with Special Needs (PATCH). Dr. Paul is currently involved with the Deans Compact of Ohio, focusing on advocating and developing policies for children and adolescents with low-incidence disabilities—deafness, blindness, and deafblindness—especially advocating for inclusive educational services and settings and the preparation of highly qualified teachers. For his contributions in the areas of teaching, research, and service, Dr. Paul has received several awards. Within the University, Dr. Paul has received his College’s Senior Research Award (2000) and Faculty Impact Award (2022). Outside the University, Dr. Paul has been the recipient of two service awards—one from the Ohio Association of the Deaf (1988) and one from Columbus Speech & Hearing Center (1992). He has also received the Ohio Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) Special Recognition Award (2014) for his efforts with programs involving blind and visually-impaired students. In 2010, Dr. Paul received The Richard and Laura Kretschmer National Leadership Award in Hearing Impairment from the Ohio School-Speech Pathology Educational Audiology Coalition (OSSPEAC) for recognition of his research, scholarship, and professional efforts in literacy/language development for children who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing. Subsequently, he received a Resolution of Recognition from the Ohio House of Representatives of the 129th General Assembly, November, 2011, for OSSPEAC’s outstanding achievement award and for being one of Ohio’s finest educators. Dr. Paul has been the recipient of a national professional award and a prestigious international award. He received the Edward Allen Faye Award (2022) from the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf (CEASD), recognizing his exceptional contributions in publications in the field of deaf education.
Finally, Dr. Paul was the recipient of The King Salman International Disability Research Award (2022)[ https://edge.ehe.osu.edu/2022/11/28/peter-paul-recipient-of-king-salman-international-disability-research-award/]. This international award is the largest in the world in this area and is granted to scientists, researchers, and entities, who have made distinguished scientific contributions that have impacted the fields of disability. In sum, considering his body of work and activities, Dr. Paul has made significant instructional, research, and service contributions in deafness and other special education areas, benefitting students at OSU and beyond with beneficial applications to diverse educational and community contexts.
Dr. Peter V. Paul’s professional career in education spans nearly 45 years from classroom teacher of d/Deaf and hard of hearing students in elementary and high schools to his professorship at The Ohio State University (OSU). He is in his 40th year of service at OSU as a faculty member in Special Education (Department of Educational Studies) and also serves as Assistant Chair of his Unit/Section. Dr. Paul teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, particularly courses in the development of language, literacy, and inclusion, which are also the foci of his research thrusts. He is also responsible for teacher preparation in the education of d/Deaf and hard of hearing children and adolescents. Dr. Paul received his BA (1974) and MS (1976) degrees from the University of South Florida, Tampa, and his PhD (1984) from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. He is the current editor of the American Annals of the Deaf as well as Honorary Editor of the journal, Human Research in Rehabilitation. Dr. Paul is the father of an adult son who has Down syndrome and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). Dr. Paul has a hearing impairment and wears two cochlear implants, which—along with being a parent of a child with disabilities– has contributed to the formation of his identity and has influenced the trajectory of his professional career.
