Biography

(On sabbatical 2023-2024)

John Corvino is Dean of the Irvin D. Reid Honors College, having succeeded Founding Dean Jerry Herron in May 2018. He is also a Professor in the Wayne State Philosophy Department, which he joined in 1998 and where he served as Department Chair from 2012 to 2017.

Corvino holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. from St. John’s University, New York, whose own Honors Program he credits for a strong educational foundation. Much of his scholarly research focuses on controversial “culture war” issues regarding ethics, sexuality, and marriage. He is the author of numerous articles, as well as three books from Oxford University Press: Debating Same-Sex Marriage (with Maggie Gallagher, 2012), What’s Wrong with Homosexuality? (2013), and Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination (with Ryan T. Anderson and Sherif Girgis, 2017).

An active “public philosopher,” Corvino has also written for The New York Times, the Detroit Free Press, The New Republic, Slate, Salon, Commonweal, and other popular venues, and he has appeared on CNN, ABC, FOX, MSNBC, CSPAN, and other TV and radio networks. His online videos have received over 2 million views.

Corvino is the recipient of several teaching awards, including a 2006 Wayne State University President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and a 2012 Distinguished Professor of the Year Award from the Presidents’ Council of the State Universities of Michigan. An engaging speaker, he has lectured at over 250 campuses around the globe. He lives with his husband in the City of Detroit.

Recent university news spotlights

• What debating gay marriage opponents taught me about the limits of free speech
• In the ‘big tent’ of free speech, can you be too open-minded?
• Wayne State Professor Corvino, 'The Gay Moralist,' to Speak at Ferris on Nov. 14
• Corvino receives Community Hero Award for work toward LGBTQ+ equality
• Wayne State scholar gains national standing as a respectful voice for LGBT rights

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