John Fantuzzo

Dr. John Fantuzzo is the Director of Eastern University’s Prison Education Program. John is an educator and philosopher who has worked in and around the criminal justice system for 15 years. He has participated in the Children’s Defense Fund’s “Cradle to Prison Pipeline” campaign, co-founded an Outreach Program for court-involved youth at Columbia University, and received certification and taught in the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. While at Valparaiso University (IN), John led the university’s prison education committee and partnered with colleagues to expand the university’s prison education offerings. John lives in Delaware County (PA) with his spouse (an art teacher) and two children (9, 11). His academic background includes a BA in philosophy from Gordon College, an MA in Philosophy and Social Policy from American University, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Education from Columbia University’s Teachers College. His writings have explored Max Weber and James Baldwin’s pedagogical ideas and the meaning of equality of opportunity, human dignity, and transformative education. John is honored to direct Eastern’s Prison Education Program and support everything it offers our neighbors who are incarcerated and returning from incarceration.