Jonathan Fanton served as President of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences from 2014 to 2019. Prior to that he held the position of Interim Director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College. He previously was President of The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and for 17 years was President of The New School for Social Research. 

In addition to his leadership of these organizations, he has served as board chair for several organizations, including Human Rights Watch, the Security Council Report, and the New York State Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities. He currently serves on the boards of Scholars at Risk, the Asian Cultural Council, and the Benjamin Franklin House. He is the author of Foundations and Civil Society, volumes I and II (2008), and The University and Civil Society, volumes I and II (1995, 2002).

He was a 2019 Aurora Forum Goodwill Ambassador and served as an Aurora Prize Expert Panel Member for the period 2016-2019.