Jonathan F. Fanton
President

Email: jfanton at macfound dot org

Jonathan F. Fanton became president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation on September 1, 1999.  Previously, he had been president of the New School for Social Research in New York City for 17 years.

With assets of $7 billion, MacArthur is one of the nation’s largest foundations.  It makes grants and program-related investments in the United States and abroad of approximately $300 million annually. Domestically, its programs encompass community development, housing, juvenile justice, and education, with a focus on digital media and learning. Internationally, it works in the fields of human rights and international justice, biodiversity conservation, population and reproductive health, international peace and security, and migration and human mobility.  The Foundation works more than 60 countries and has offices in India, Russia, Nigeria, and Mexico. The Foundation also funds public radio and television and the making of independent documentaries.   The Foundation is well known for its support of exceptionally creative individuals through the MacArthur Fellows Program.

At Yale University, Mr. Fanton earned a baccalaureate degree in 1965, a master’s in philosophy in 1977, and a doctorate in American History in 1978.  At Yale, he taught American history, was special assistant to president Kingman Brewster from 1970 to 1973 and associate provost from 1976 to 1978.  From 1978 to 1982, he was vice president for planning at the University of Chicago, where he also taught American history. 

As president of the New School for Social Research from 1982 to 1999, he led the integration and enhancement of the seven divisions of the university, expansion of the Greenwich Village campus, and development campaigns that increased the university’s endowment ten-fold.  During his tenure, the New School merged with the Mannes College of Music, established a drama school in partnership with the Actor’s Studio, merged with the World Policy Institute, added a jazz and contemporary music program, a teacher education program, a creative writing program, and an architecture department at Parsons School of Design.

Mr. Fanton is a board member of Human Rights Watch (HRW), the largest U.S.-based human rights organization, which operates in 70 countries.  He served as Chair of HRW’s board for six years, stepping down at the end of 2003.  He is also an advisory trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Chicago History Museum, and the founding Board Chair of Security Council Report. He is Co-Chair of Chicago's Partnership for New Communities. He served as chair of the New York Committee on Independent Colleges and Universities and as co-chair of the 14th Street/Union Square Local Development Corporation. 

Mr. Fanton is the author of The University and Civil Society, Volumes I and II and co-editor of John Brown: Great Lives Observed and The Manhattan Project: A Documentary Introduction to the Atomic Age.

Mr. Fanton's wife, Cynthia Greenleaf Fanton, is Director of Partnerships for the Chicago Public Schools, and prior to their move to Chicago, was assistant provost at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.  Mrs. Greenleaf Fanton was born in Chicago and educated at Smith, Harvard, and Georgetown Law School.