Paul Laird

Paul Robert Laird (born October 26, 1958) is an American musicologist and Professor Emeritus of Musicology at the University of Kansas, where he has taught since 1994 after positions at Pennsylvania State University, Binghamton University, and the University of Denver. He holds a Ph.D. in music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and specializes in American musical theater, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Schwartz, Spanish villancico, and Baroque cello. Laird has authored numerous books, including *Wicked: A Musical Biography*, *The Musical Theater of Stephen Schwartz*, and *Historical Dictionary of the Broadway Musical* (co-authored with William A. Everett).