Jim Cullen was born in Queens, New York, and attended public schools on Long Island. He received his B.A. in English from Tufts University, and his A.M. and Ph.D. degrees in American Civilization from Brown University. He has taught at a number of colleges and universities, including Harvard, Brown and Sarah Lawrence College. He was a longtime faculty member and History Department chair at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York before moving to the recently founded Greenwich Country Day School in 2020. He is married to Lyde Cullen Sizer, Dean of the College at Sarah Lawrence, and has four children. Jim is the author of twenty books, which include "Sensing the Past: Hollywood Stars and Historical Visions" (Oxford University Press, 2013), "The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation" (Oxford, 2003) and "Born in the USA: Bruce Springsteen and the American Tradition" (HarperCollins, 1997). His latest book is "1980: America's Pivotal Year" (Rutgers University Press). His current project compares the musical careers of Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen. It is slated for publication in late 2023.
