Paul S. Dean
Bishop Herbert Welch Award for Scholarly or Artistic Achievement (2026);
Sherwood Dodge Shankland Award for Encouragement of Teachers (2018)
2026 Commencement Ceremony Excerpt
Paul Dean is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at Ohio Wesleyan University. He is a devoted teacher-scholar who finds great purpose in mentoring and teaching students. His scholarship focuses on inequality, first-generation students, social movements, and globalization. Dr. Dean's commitment to student success extends far beyond the lecture hall. He has pioneered transformative travel-learning opportunities, leading students to destinations including Denmark, Germany, Haiti, and Vietnam. This dedication to mentorship is further evidenced by his frequent co-authored publications with students.
As the first member of his family to attend college, Dr. Dean describes his college and professional experiences as becoming immersed in an entirely new world. He recounts having to learn the unwritten rules for how to speak, dress, and interact with new peers. Drawing from his own journey, Dr. Dean's current work focuses on first-generation college students. This includes his 2025 book Class Cultures and Social Mobility, which explores how first-generation graduates navigate the unwritten rules to transform their working-class roots into unique professional strengths and use their education to make the world a better place.
Dr. Dean is also a speaker and workshop facilitator, helping faculty and staff throughout higher education to better support working-class first-gen students.
2018 Commencement Ceremony Excerpt
In six years at Ohio Wesleyan, Dr. Dean has developed a reputation for being a creative and dynamic teacher who partners with students in collaborative learning experiences.
One of his colleagues commented: "His engagement with students, his thoughtful strategies for motivating and monitoring student progress, and his particular commitment to first generation students and lower income and minority students are all extraordinary."
One of Paul's students made this comment: "Dr. Dean does an amazing job of exposing the truth of our societal assumptions. This is crucial to all people to look at our everyday lives in different perspectives to better understand the driving forces that dictate our way of life."