Jonathan F. Fanton (1943 - ) was the president of The New School from 1982 until 1999. This collection contains material documenting his career as a university and charitable foundation administrator at Yale University, the University of Chicago, The New School, Human Rights Watch, the MacArthur Foundation, Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and other organizations.

The New School oral history program, initiated in 2012, consists of recorded sound interviews conducted by Archives and Special Collections staff and faculty partners to document aspects of university history that may not exist in other recorded formats. Interviewees consist of current and retired New School alumni, administrators, faculty, and staff. Topics cover different academic departments and disciplines, university offices, and affiliated institutes. Recordings are all in English.