Dr. Joel Westheimer is University Research Chair in Democracy and Education at the University of Ottawa and an education columnist for CBC Radio. Renowned speaker, award-winning author and education advocate, Westheimer's work focuses on schools and education reform in democratic societies. His books include the critically acclaimed What Kind of Citizen: Educating Our Children for the Common Good; Pledging Allegiance: The Politics of Patriotism in America's Schools (foreword by Howard Zinn); and Among Schoolteachers: Community, Autonomy and Ideology in Teachers' Work. Dr. Westheimer has delivered more than 350 keynote speeches, nationally and internationally and is a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines including The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, the Toronto Star, and the Ottawa Citizen. Westheimer received his B.S.E. from Princeton University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford University.
Before joining the faculty at University of Ottawa, he taught at Stanford and at New York University. Before that he taught in the New York City Public Schools. Westheimer lives in Ottawa where, in Winter, he ice-skates to and from work. Find out more at joelwestheimer.org.