Gayle Thieman, EdD, teaches and supervises pre-service teachers as a cohort leader in a year-long teacher licensure program (GTEP), specializing in social studies methods and instruction and technology. She provides grant-funded professional development for teachers and administrators in Portland Public Schools and also works with social studies teachers through a Teaching American History Grant. She has also taught and supervised administrative licensure candidates in the L2000 program at PSU.

Her research focuses on preparing teachers to use information technologies effectively in the classroom to promote meaningful learning and problem solving among K-12 students. She is also interested in educational reform policy and practice related to high schools.

Currently, she is president of the National Council for Social Studies and an active member of the Oregon and Washington Councils for the Social Studies.

Before joining the Graduate School of Education Dr. Thieman worked as a high school administrator in Washington and Alaska. She also taught social studies in secondary schools in Alaska, Colorado, and Illinois. She has presented numerous workshops and developed curriculum materials in U.S. history, law related education, gender and race equity, and interdisciplinary teaching.