Paul DeBell, Ph.D., board member

Paul DeBell is Associate Professor of Political Science and Assistant Dean for Impact and Innovation at Fort Lewis College in Durango. His teaching and research interests span political psychology and comparative politics, focusing in particular on democratic backslide and 21st century challenges to democratic governance. Outside of the classroom, he is active in campus working groups focusing on undergraduate research, community-engaged learning, and student success. Paul also spearheads Fort Lewis College's civic engagement and voter education efforts through the FLC Engagement Collaborative.

Paul grew up in Virginia and studied government, philosophy, and Russian at the College of William and Mary. He worked as an English instructor in Hungary before completing his Ph.D. in Political Science at the Ohio State University in 2016. He now lives in Durango with his husband and their dog.