Jonathan Fanton

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 80–81)
Alma mater	Yale University

Jonathan F. Fanton(born 1943) is the immediate past president of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences.He previously served as the president of theJohn D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundationfrom 1999 to 2009 and as the president ofThe New School for Social Researchfrom 1982 to 1999.He has served as board chair for several organizations, includingHuman Rights Watch,the Security Council Report,and theNew York StateCommission on Independent Colleges and Universities.He also serves on the boards ofScholars At Risk,the World Refugee and Migration Council, the International Integrity Initiative, the Jerome Greene Foundation, 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 AffairsandRoosevelt Houseat 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 Sciencesand the American Philosophical Society.

Early life and career

Born inMobile,Alabama,Fanton grew up inTrumbullandWeston,Connecticut.In 1961, he graduated fromChoate School.AtYale University,he earned a baccalaureate degree in 1965, and a Ph.D. inAmerican historyin 1978.As an undergraduate, Fanton directed the Ulysses S. Grant Program, a summer enrichment program for talented students from the inner city.He went on to serve atYaleas associate provost and as an assistant to PresidentKingman Brewster.He subsequently served as vice president for planning at theUniversity of Chicago.

Academic and nonprofit leadership

In 1982, Fanton was inaugurated president ofThe New School for Social ResearchinNew York City,a leadership position that he held for 17 years.One of his signature accomplishments as president was the reconnection ofThe New Schoolto its European roots through assistance provided to dissident scholars inEasternandCentral Europe,many of whom were leaders ofhuman rightsorganizations in their home countries.After becoming president of theMacArthur Foundationin 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.From 2009 to 2014, Fanton was interim director of theRoosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College.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.He was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Societyin 2015.

Scholarship

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).

External links

• Jonathan Fanton
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences