Dr. J. Roland Pennock (1906-1995) was Richter Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Swarthmore College, his alma mater, where he taught from 1929 until his retirement in 1976. He served as chairman of the department of political science for 39 years and was a visiting professor at Harvard and Columbia Universities, the University of Minnesota and the University of California at San Diego.
He was a past president of the American Society for Political and Legal Theory and a principal editor of its annual Nomos series, published by New York University Press.