Paul grew up in the greater Chicago area in a large, cohesive family with strong intellectual traditions that did not confuse the importance of goodness of heart with the glamour of academic accomplishments. After receiving a BS, magna cum laude, from the honors program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1974, he earned his PhD in immunology from The University of Chicago, where he received his predoctoral training in tumor immunology in the laboratory of Hans Schreiber in 1979 and his MD, with honors, in 1981.
After a pediatric internship and residency at the University of Colorado in Denver, Paul trained for two years as a fellow in allergy immunology with Anthony R. Hayward at the National Jewish Hospital and Research Center, where he began his work on human NK cells. Thereafter, he joined the Mayo Clinic in 1986 for a distinguished career in immunology. During his two decades at Mayo, he poured himself into teaching in both the classroom and the laboratory, serving for five years as dean of the graduate school. His colleagues at Mayo recognized Paul for his service in research and teaching with the Rose M. and Morris Eisenberg Professorship, and he was named Mayo Distinguished Educator for his truly premier mentoring of students, fellows and junior faculty alike.
