Dr. Joseph R. Fornieri is Professor of Political Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology and the Director of the non-partisan Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty. The Center seeks to enhance the study of political greatness and responsible citizenship at the secondary and college levels. Since its inception in 2012, the Center has organized and held numerous public, pedagogical, and academic events and assisted students through scholarships and mentoring: https://www.rit.edu/statesmanship/.

A former High School teacher, Fornieri’s mission includes outreach to secondary teachers and students throughout the country. An award-winning instructor at both the secondary and university level, Fornieri teaches classes in American political thought and leadership, rhetoric, political philosophy, and the First Amendment. He was a member of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, 1809-2009. The same year he was awarded a Fulbright as a Lecturer at Charles University in Prague, the Czech Republic. He is on the Board of both the Lincoln Forum and the Abraham Lincoln Association.

As a teacher-scholar, Fornieri is the author of a several books on the Sixteenth President, including Abraham Lincoln’s Political Faith and Abraham Lincoln, Philosopher Statesman. He is also co-author of several edited volumes, including An Invitation to Political Thought with his now deceased college mentor, Kenneth L. Deutsch. His most recent books include: Free Speech: Core Court Cases, 2020; American Statesmanship, Principles and Practices of Leadership, 2021 Notre Dame University Press and Abraham Lincoln: Core Documents, 2022.

In addition to teaching at RIT, he is involved with the Ashbrook Center’s Masters in American History and Government program, the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, and Prager University. Building on his expertise, he is currently working on a book comparing the political thought and leadership of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Fornieri’s various publications, lectures, honors, and videos are readily accessible through a google search of his name. On the side, he enjoys cigars and plays in a blues band with his brother Peter and his nephew Joseph.