James Grossman

James Grossman is Executive Director of the American Historical Association. He was previously Vice President for Research and Education at the Newberry Library, and has taught at University of Chicago and University of California, San Diego. The author of Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration and A Chance to Make Good: African-Americans, 1900–1929, Grossman was project director and coeditor of the print and digital Encyclopedia of Chicago and is editor emeritus of the series “Historical Studies of Urban America,” which he abandoned to his colleagues after 50 volumes. His articles and short essays have focused on various aspects of American urban history, African American history, ethnicity, higher education, and the place of history in public culture. Short pieces have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time, The Hill, New York Daily News, Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, and elsewhere.

Wesley Hedgepeth

Wesley lives and breathes the social studies! Throughout his career, he has taught many social studies courses from grades 7-12, at all ability levels, in both public and independent schools. He teaches AP Comparative Politics, AP U.S. Government, and world history at Collegiate School in Henrico County, just outside Richmond, Virginia. In addition to teaching, Wesley advises students, coordinates his school’s Model United Nations program, and serves on his school’s Civil Dialogue Task Force. Prior to teaching at Collegiate School, Wesley taught at James River High School in Midlothian, Virginia, and Trinity Episcopal School in Richmond.  He is president of NCSS for the 2023-24 academic year.

Lawrence Paska

Dr. Lawrence Paska is the Executive Director of National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), the largest professional association in the country devoted solely to social studies education. NCSS represents K-12 classroom teachers, college and university faculty members, curriculum designers and specialists, district and state supervisors and administrators, and educators from around the world focused on social studies learning. As NCSS’ chief staff executive, he is responsible for implementing the strategic priorities, policies, and actions approved by the NCSS Board of Directors, and expanding a network of social studies professionals nationwide.

Larry began his career as a middle school social studies teacher in New York State public school districts. He later served in multiple roles at the New York State Education Department (Albany, NY). He led New York's standards and assessment programs for P-12 social studies education as a state social studies specialist, established the Office of Educational Design and Technology in P-12 Education, and implemented the Board of Regents' Statewide Learning Technology Plan and regulations for online and blended learning as the Coordinator of Technology Policy. Larry returned to schools as the Director of Social Studies for the Harrison Central School District (Harrison, NY), leading K-12 social studies, business, and library media departments. He then served as the Director of Professional Development for the Southern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), where he and his team provided instructional programs and services for 32 public school districts in the greater New York City region, supported data-driven instruction, developed instructional leadership seminars, and implemented New York State's K-12 Social Studies Framework. He has taught social studies education methods at the university level.