Dr. Renford Reese

Renford Reese received his Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Southern California's School of Policy, Planning, and Development. He conducted his dissertation research at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in Geneva, Switzerland. He received his Master's degree in public policy from the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies and his Bachelor's degree in political science from Vanderbilt University. Dr. Reese is a professor in the political science department at Cal Poly Pomona. He has traveled to over 100 countries and has been the faculty coordinator of 17 Study Abroad programs countries at Cal Poly Pomona. He is the author of 10 books. Reese is a former Fulbright Fellow lecturing in the American Studies program at the University of Hong Kong. He is the founder of the Prison Education Project, the Reintegration Academy, and the Colorful Flags program. He is the executive director of Cal Poly Pomona's Project Rebound program for formerly incarcerated students on campus. He has developed prison education initiatives in Uganda, London, and Scotland. He mentored Rodney King in the late 1990s. The South African concept of "Ubuntu" (humanity) is integrated throughout Reese's work: "I am because we are."