Jeanne Fahnestock

About the Author

Jeanne Fahnestock is a distinguished rhetorician and professor emerita of English at the University of Maryland, where she taught for over three decades, specializing in the rhetoric of science and argumentation. With a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, her scholarly work bridges classical rhetoric with modern discourse analysis, exploring how arguments are constructed and persuasive in academic, scientific, and public contexts. Fahnestock's contributions have influenced generations of students and researchers, emphasizing clarity, structure, and ethical persuasion in writing. Her seminal text, A Rhetoric of Argument: Brief Edition, distills complex principles into accessible frameworks for effective argumentation, making it a staple in composition and rhetoric courses worldwide. Beyond academia, she has lectured internationally on the interplay of language and logic, advocating for rigorous yet humane approaches to debate in an increasingly polarized world.