Sheats, Paul H., 1907-

Born on December 5, 1907 in Tiffin, Ohio, Paul Sheats (1907-1984) attended Heidelberg College in his hometown where he earned his A.B. in 1929. He went on to earn an M.A. from Columbia University in 1930, and a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1936. He was an instructor in government at New York State College for Teachers in Albany, an instructor in education at Yale, and an assistant professor of education at the University of Wisconsin. During World War II he served for a time as head of the adult section of the Office of War Information. Sheats has also been the education director of Town Hall in New York. In 1946 he joined the University of California as Associate Director of Extension and in 1949 he became a full professor, a position he held until his retirement in 1975. In 1957 he became Director of University Extension and was named Dean of Extension in 1958. He held this position until 1967 when he returned to teaching full-time. He was also a professor of education at University of California, Los Angeles.

In the course of his life he maintained memberships with several key adult education organizations. Sheats was President of both the National University Extension Association and the Adult Education Association. He served as the University Extension representative on the Executive Committee of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. He also served on the Board of Directors of the National Training Laboratories and on the Adult Education Committee of the Master Plan Survey Team, which acted as architects for the Master Plan for Higher Education in California. For six years Dr. Sheats served on the UNESCO National Commission (at one time holding the office of Vice-Chairman), and he was a member of President Kennedy's Panel of Consultants on Vocational Education. In addition he held seats on the Boards of Directors for the Center for the Study of Liberal Education for Adults and the National Training Laboratories.

Paul Sheats' articles appeared in the major adult education publications, and he authored or co-authored a number of books including Citizenship Throuqh the Social Studies (with R. W. Frederick), 1936; Forums for Young People (with J. W. Studebaker and C. S. Williams), 1937; Education and the Quest for a Middle Way, 1938; Forums on the Air, 1939; Adult education: the community approach, 1953; Adult Education (with R. Spence and C. Jayne), 1953; University of California Extension in a decade of transition, 1962; The case against the adult dropout, 1965; and Aging and the imagination, 1976.

From the guide to the Paul Henry Sheats Papers, 1925-1975, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)