John Tanton
John Hamilton Tanton[1] (February 23, 1934 – July 16, 2019) was an American ophthalmologist, and anti-immigration activist.[2] He was the founder and first chairman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), an anti-immigration organization. He was the co-founder of the Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigration think tank; and NumbersUSA, an anti-immigration lobbying group. He was chairman of U.S. English and ProEnglish. He was briefly President of Zero Population Growth. He was the founder of The Social Contract Press, which published a quarterly journal of nativist and white nationalist writers called The Social Contract until the fall of 2019.[3] He founded the pro-eugenics organization Society for Genetic Education.
John Tanton
February 23, 1934
July 16, 2019 (aged 85)
Michigan State University (BS)
University of Michigan (MS, MD)
Ophthalmologist, activist
Mary Lou Tanton
Early life[edit]
Tanton was born in 1934 in Detroit.[4][5] In 1945, he moved with his family to a farm northeast of Bay City, Michigan, on which his mother had been raised and on which he worked.[6]
Tanton graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Michigan State University in 1956, received an M.D. from the University of Michigan in 1960, and received an M.S. in ophthalmology from the University of Michigan in 1964.[5]
Career[edit]
Tanton ran an ophthalmology practice in Petoskey, Michigan.[7]
Personal life[edit]
Tanton was married to Mary Lou Tanton. She chairs the U.S. Immigration Reform PAC.[40] She also co-founded Scenic Michigan.[41]
Tanton had Parkinson's disease for his last 16 years.[1] He died in Petoskey on July 16, 2019.[2][42]