Paul Herdman

Meet the team at Rodel that works to change the education system in Delaware through research, policy, practice, and partnerships.

Paul Herdman

President and CEO

pherdman@rodelde.org

Paul has been president and CEO of Rodel of Delaware since 2004. He is a founding member of the Vision Coalition, one of the nation’s longest standing public-private partnerships. The group works to transform Delaware’s public schools to world-class status. He also serves on a range of local boards, including the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League and Delaware’s State Chamber of Commerce. Paul is a frequent speaker on the national stage. He is an Aspen Institute-NewSchools Fellow in entrepreneurial leadership, and a recipient of numerous national awards from Harvard’s Strategic Data Project, NewSchools Venture Fund (Change Agent of the Year), and the Policy Innovators in Education (PIE) Network. He is on the board of Grantmakers for Education and co-chairs the Education Funder Strategy Group’s International Working Group. Prior to his current role, he served as a senior manager at New American Schools, consulted with Brookings Institution, RAND, the U.S. Department of Education, and The World Bank. Paul has taught K-12 in the U.S., South Africa, and Australia, and co-founded an Outward Bound-based school-within-a-school in New York City which informed the creation of Expeditionary Learning, a national model. He assisted the secretary of education for two governors in Massachusetts during the wholesale redesign of the state’s policies on standards, choice, and finance. Paul holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Delaware, and master’s and doctoral degrees in education administration and planning from Harvard University. He and his wife, Dana, live in Wilmington and have three children that have had great experiences attending Delaware’s public schools.