Paolo Ruffini (1765-1822) may be something of an unknown in high school mathematics; however his contributions to the world of mathematics are a rich source of inspiration. Ruffini's rule (often known as "synthetic division") is an efficient method of dividing a polynomial by a linear factor, with or without a remainder. The process can be generalised to non-linear divisors. Ruffini's rule can be further generalised to evaluation of derivatives at a given point, does not require technology and, most importantly, it is not beyond the reach of high school mathematics students to prove why the rule works for polynomials of a specific degree. In this article, the author discusses Paolo Ruffini's rule of "synthetic division" and the benefits to teaching it.