Joseph P. Viteritti
Thomas Hunter Professor of Public Policy; Chair, Urban Policy and Planning Department; Founding Faculty Chair, Public Policy Program at Roosevelt House

Joseph P. Viteritti is the Thomas Hunter Professor or Public Policy at Hunter. He was elected Chair of the Urban Policy & Planning Department for five consecutive terms from 2008 to 2023 and was Founding Faculty Chair of the Public Policy Program at Roosevelt House. Professor Viteritti has written or edited twelve books and has published numerous articles in scholarly journals, law reviews and popular media, including the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Nation. His work has been translated into four languages other than English.

Professor Viteritti’s writing has focused on two general areas: education policy and urban politics. His most recent book, Radical Dreamers: Race, Choice, and the Failure of American Education (Oxford, 2025), chronicles the nation’s failure to provide every child with an equal education and its varied attempts to do so.  He gave expert testimony in the landmark US Supreme Court case, Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002) and was cited by the court in Espinosa v. Montana (2002), both of which had to do with the issue of school choice. He has served as a senior advisor to the Chancellor of the New York City public schools, as well as the school superintendents of Boston and San Francisco.

Professor Viteritti’s work in urban politics and policy has focused on mayoral leadership in New York City, having written on every mayor since Fiorello La Guardia. He is a regular commentator on public media. He has served as a member or director of expert panels that have reviewed and recommended policies regarding city charter revision, education governance, police management, jail reform, municipal secession, civic education, and executive, legislative and judicial compensation, and was an advisor to the transition teams of several newly elected mayors.

Prior to joining the faculty at Hunter, Professor Viteritti taught at Princeton (Politics Department), New York University (Wagner School and Law School), Harvard (Graduate School of Education) and the SUNY, Albany (Rockefeller School). He is a proud graduate of Hunter and member of the Alumni Hall of Fame.

The Pragmatist: Bill de Blasio’s Quest to Save the Soul of New York (Oxford University Press, 2017)