Background and Biography

Thom Markham, Ph.D.

Thom Markham, Ph.D., is a psychologist, educator, and writer who served as a Director with Active Learning, Inc., taught at an award-winning high school, and co-founded the Marin School of Arts and Technology, the flagship school for Envision Schools. Thom served as Associate Director for Strategic Initiatives for the Buck Institute for Education, where he led BIE efforts to establish global training programs in project based learning and youth development and co-authored BIE's Project Based Learning Handbook, now in its third printing with over 40,000 copies sold in over 50 countries. Currently, he offers consulting and coaching services worldwide for project based learning, youth development, and whole child education.

Thom has worked closely with leading educational organizations such as: the National High School Alliance; Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation; High Tech High; New Technology Foundation; Project Lead the Way; National Academy Foundation; Envision Schools; the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education; WestEd; North Carolina New Schools Project; Career Academy Support Network; Oracle Educational Foundation; George Lucas Educational Foundation; iEARN; and the Academy for Educational Development. He has conducted workshops for over 3500 teachers in the U.S. and abroad, and presented at conferences sponsored by ASCD, Kean University, New Jersey; California Association of Charter Schools; International Conference on Problem Based Learning, Cancun, Mexico; International Conference on Multiple intelligences, Problem Solving and Creativity, Beijing, China; Ministry of Education, Malaysia; and Ministry of Education, the Kingdom of Jordan.

Thom holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center. He received his undergraduate degree in Zoology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master's Degree in Political Science and International Relations from UCLA. He also holds a Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language from Sonoma State University.