Joseph G. Ponterotto is an American psychologist, author and professor. He is currently a tenured professor of counseling psychology and the Coordinator of the Mental Health Counseling Program at Fordham University's Graduate School of Education. He is a licensed psychologist and mental health counselor, as well as a psychobiographer and multicultural consultant. His research interests are in acculturation, racism, immigration, multicultural counseling and education, qualitative/quantitative research methods including scale development, the history of psychology, and psychobiography. Ponterotto is known for his teaching style at Fordham University, where in he blends both traditional and experiential practices. As a practicing clinician he brings the richness and diversity of the therapeutic process into the curriculum. He has also contributed over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, 13 academic books, and other notable works to the field of multicultural counseling, assessment, and research, including the Handbooks of Multicultural Counseling, the Handbooks of Multicultural Assessment, and Preventing Prejudice: A Guide for Counselors, Educators, and Parents. Ponterotto is perhaps best known for his first work of psychobiography titled A Psychobiography of Bobby Fischer: Understanding the Genius, Mystery, and Psychological Decline of a World Chess Champion, which also led becoming a historical consultant on the 2015 Edward Zwick-directed film Pawn Sacrifice, starring Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer and Liev Schreiber as Boris Spassky. Biography Ponterotto was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. He entered Iona College in New Rochelle, New York in 1976 and attained a bachelor's degree (B.A.) in Psychology. from the education institution In 1980. Soon after, he accepted an invitation into the Counseling Psychology Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He started in the Master's program there for the first year and then met his mentor, Dr. Jesus Manual Casas who recommended that he transition into the doctoral program. Ponterotto credits Casas for inspiring his interests in multicultural research and social advocacy. From September 1981 until his graduation in May 1985, he was part of a team with his mentor who conducted research in the Chicano Community. During this time, Ponterotto and Cases engaged in prolonged discussions on their life experiences and concepts such as unearned privilege, culture, oppression and injustice. He learned how to reflect on his own heritage and bilingualism and how this ties into important elements of life like identity development and professionalism. Dr. Casas became the chair for Ponterretto's Doctoral dissertation, "The Effects of Select Parental Variables, Cognitive