Jonathan F. Fanton | |
|---|---|
| 46th President ofAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences | |
| In office 2014–2018 | |
| Preceded by | Leslie Cohen Berlowitz |
| Succeeded by | David W. Oxtoby |
| 3rd President ofJohn D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation | |
| In office 1999–2009 | |
| Preceded by | Adele Simmons |
| Succeeded by | Robert L. Gallucci |
| 6th President ofThe New School for Social Research | |
| In office 1982–1999 | |
| Preceded by | John R. Everett |
| Succeeded by | Bob Kerrey |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1943 (age 82–83) |
| Alma mater | Yale University (BA,PhD) |
Jonathan F. Fanton (born 1943) is an American academic and nonprofit executive. He served as the president of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences[1] from 2014 to 2018, the president of theJohn D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation from 1999 to 2009, and as the president ofThe New School for Social Research from 1982 to 1999.[2] He has served as board chair for several organizations, includingHuman Rights Watch,[3] the Security Council Report,[4] and theNew York State Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities.[5] He also serves on the boards ofScholars At Risk,[6] the World Refugee and Migration Council, the International Integrity Initiative,American University Afghanistan,American Exchange Project, and theEuropean Humanities University. He serves as a member of the advisory board of the YaleJackson School of Global Affairs andRoosevelt House at Hunter College. He is a life trustee of Human Rights Watch and The Asian Cultural Council. He was elected a fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.[7]
Born inMobile,Alabama, Fanton grew up inTrumbull andWeston,Connecticut. In 1961, he graduated fromChoate School. AtYale University, he earned a bachelor's degree in 1965, and a Ph.D. inAmerican history in 1978.[8] As an undergraduate, Fanton directed the Ulysses S. Grant Program, a summer enrichment program for talented students from the inner city.[9] He went on to serve atYale as associate provost and as an assistant to PresidentKingman Brewster.[10] He subsequently served as vice president for planning at theUniversity of Chicago.[11]
In 1982, Fanton was inaugurated president ofThe New School for Social Research inNew York City, a leadership position that he held for 17 years.[12] One of his signature accomplishments as president was the reconnection ofThe New School to its European roots through assistance provided to dissident scholars inEastern andCentral Europe, many of whom were leaders ofhuman rights organizations in their home countries.[9] After becoming president of theMacArthur Foundation in 1999, he worked to strengthen the organization’s commitment to a variety of issues, including international justice, human rights, peace and security, biodiversity conservation, and community and economic development.[9][13] From 2009 to 2014, Fanton was interim director of theRoosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College.[9] From 2014 to 2019, he served as the president of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers in theUnited States.[1] He was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society in 2015.[14]
Fanton is the author ofFoundations and Civil Society, Volumes I and II (MacArthur Foundation, 2008) andThe University and Civil Society, Volumes I and II (New School for Social Research, 1995, 2002). He is also co-editor ofJohn Brown: Great Lives Observed (Prentice-Hall, 1973) andThe Manhattan Project: A Documentary Introduction to the Atomic Age (McGraw-Hill, 1991).
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