Atholl Douglas (Paddy) Whannel (17 October 1922 – 8 July 1980) was a key figure in the educational work of the British Film Institute (BFI) throughout the 1960s.
Whannel was hired by the BFI in 1957, having taught history, art, social studies and mass media at various London schools for nine years.
As Alan Lovell put it, "a grasp of the overall context and an attention to detail combined with democratic inclinations enabled him to create a framework that released other people’s energies and talents while making sure they were used to their best effect".
In August 1971, he and five of his colleagues from the Education Department resigned after a Sub-Committee of the BFI Governors had delivered a report which proposed "scaling down the Department’s activity, reducing it to a support and advisory role, and cutting the umbilical cord that linked it to the Society for Education in Film and Television, then publisher of Screen.
"[5] Whannel had occasionally taught at Northwestern University and, after his departure from the BFI, he became an associate professor in its Radio-TV-Film Department—eventually becoming the head of that department.