Dr. Paul Edgar

Dr. Paul Edgar serves as the Executive Director of the William P. Clements Center for National Security at The University of Texas-Austin. He holds a PhD in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of Texas and studies the historical origins of diplomacy, war, and strategy in pre-classical antiquity. He is also a philologist of several ancient languages. 

As a graduate student, Dr. Edgar was a fellow in the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Engaged Scholar Program and also with the Clements Center. Prior to beginning work on his PhD, Dr. Edgar had been an Olmsted Foundation Scholar at Tel Aviv University where he studied for his master’s degree, focusing on early Israelite and Jewish literature from the Iron Age through the Crusades. Previously, Dr. Edgar earned his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Saint Mary’s University. His public writing has appeared in Foreign Policy, Task & Purpose, and Capital Commentary. He is currently writing an international diplomatic history of the Late Bronze Age. 

Before entering academia, Dr. Edgar served more than 22 years as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army, mostly in conventional airborne and special operations assignments.