Trainer Biography
Paul Minifee, Ph.D
A native of Galveston, TX, Dr. Paul A. Minifee received his BA in English and Psychology and PhD in Rhetoric and Writing Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. From 2003 to 2006, he worked with seminarians on their sermons and taught first-year writing courses at The University of Notre Dame. In 2006, he began teaching at San Diego State University where his classes focus on the African American experience in social, religious, and political contexts and examine the intersections between public and private rhetorical identities and sacred and secular rhetorics. His publications concern rhetorics of 19th-century abolitionists, slave narratives, spiritual autobiographies, black preaching, hymnody, and black manhood. He is a three-time recipient of Pi Beta Phi’s “Professor of the Year” award, the 2014 recipient of SDSU’s Teaching Excellence Award, and a 2019 finalist for the Senate’s Teaching Excellence Award. For six years, he served as the faculty advisor for Students African American Brotherhood and presented workshops on black masculinity, forgiveness, and resilience. Dr. Minifee has also presented workshops on social justice and racial reconciliation at SDSU (https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/sd-sp-anthem-protest-sdsu-womens-basketball-compromise-20171116-story.html) and local churches (http://www.visionpathwayssd.org/speaker-series). He is currently ion Learning’s Vice President of Curriculum Design, where he creates curricula that help transform individuals and companies into “change agents” who shape corporate culture to be more inclusive. Dr. Minifee is an active member of All Peoples Church in City Heights and spends his leisure traveling, cooking, and competing in tennis leagues.