Paul Lester

Dr. Paul Lester is an Associate Professor and teaches ethical leadership at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, CA. A retired U.S. Army officer, Paul received his undergraduate degree from West Point and doctorate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was commissioned as an Infantry officer, served in the 101st Airborne Division, commanded in the 2nd Infantry Division, and later transferred to the Medical Service Corps as a research psychologist. He served on the West Point faculty and taught leadership, deployed to Iraq to study combat leadership, and next mentored faculty at the National Military Academy of Afghanistan. Prior to joining NPS, Paul served in the Pentagon and later founded the Research Facilitation Laboratory in Monterey, the Department of Army’s premier people analytics and data science organization.
Paul is the recipient of the General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award. He has published extensively on leadership, resilience, well-being, mentorship, and courage.