Paul Cummins was born in Chicago, Illinois, moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and then to Los Angeles, California. He attended Stanford University (B.A., 1959), Harvard University (M.A.T., 1960), and the University of Southern California (Ph.D., 1967). He has taught English at Harvard School and the Oakwood School in California as well as at U.C.L.A. In 1970, he became the Headmaster of St. Augustine's Elementary School in Santa Monica and the primary Founder and Headmaster of the Crossroads School, Founder of New Visions Foundation and PS Arts. He is currently the Executive Director of the New Visions Foundation.

While at New Visions Foundation, he has been the primary Founder of New Roads School, a co-founder of Camino Nuevo Charter Academy, the creator of CEO (Center for Educational Opportunity) which places foster children in independent schools, and the Founder of FHF (Families Helping Families), which redirects low income families into life-changing new directions. In addition, New Visions Foundation has instituted an after-school program at Camp Gonzales (a probationary incarceration school) to redirect and relocate juvenile students.

His publications include a booklet on Richard Wilbur, several articles on education, and numerous poems which have appeared in journals such as The New Republic, Poetry LA, Whole Notes, Wild Bamboo Press, Bad Haircut Quarterly, Wordwrights, Slant, and others. His biography on Herbert Zipper, Dachau Song: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of Herbert Zipper (Peter Lang, 1992) has been translated into Chinese and German. For Mortal Stakes: Solutions for Schools and Society, was published in 1998 by Peter Lang Publishing and Bramble Books and was translated into Japanese, and Keeping Watch: Reflections On American Culture, Education and Politics was published by Firstbooks Library in 2002. A collection of poetry, A Postcard From Bali was also published in 2002 by Argonne Press. Also an essay, “The Vital Left” appeared in Fake-City Syndrome published by Red Hen Press, 2002. Proceed With Passion: Engaging Students in Meaningful Education was published in April of 2004 by Red Hen Press.

He serves on the board of trustees of the New Roads School, P.S. Arts, American Poetry Review, The Gabriela Axelrod Foundation, The Sam Francis Foundation, EXED, The Center for Innovative Education, Camino Nuevo Charter Academy, and the Los Angeles Academy for Arts and Enterprise. He and his wife, Mary Ann, live in Santa Monica, California. They have four daughters.

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