Our Staff
Jill Stockwell, Director
Jill Stockwell, Director (jfstockw@princeton.edu/609-258-7028)
Jill Stockwell was previously a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton, affiliated with the Prison Teaching Initiative and the University Center for Human Values. As a postdoc, Jill managed the NSF-funded STEPs to STEM launch pilot grant, which aims to broaden participation in STEM fields among currently and formerly incarcerated people. Jill has taught literature and composition courses with PTI since 2013 and has coordinated humanities and social science programming since 2015. Jill holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from Princeton University and was a Fulbright and Social Science Research Council fellow. Her current scholarship uses literary and cultural artifacts to examine the troubled relationship between incarceration and democracy in the Turkish and American contexts.
Jenny Greene, (Astrophysics) Academic Director
Jenny Greene, Academic Director
Jenny was a co-founder of the Prison Teaching Initiative at Princeton in 2005, and she has served as PTI’s Academic Director since the summer of 2017. She is a professor of astrophysics at Princeton. You can find out more about her work here.
Tara Ronda, Program Coordinator
Tara Ronda, Program Coordinator (tronda@princeton.edu/609-258-1675)
Tara became the Program Coordinator for the Prison Teaching Initiative in 2016. She holds an M.A. in Educational Counseling from Rowan University and joint B.A. degrees in Philosophy & Religion and Literature from Stockton University. She has also been a domestic violence/sexual assault counselor, AmeriCorps program coordinator, volunteer coordinator, philosophy professor, freelance editor, service-learning director, Avon saleswoman, bartender, dry-cleaning operator, and babysitter. But this is definitely her favorite job.

Christopher Etienne, STEM Program Coordinator
Christopher Etienne, STEM Program Coordinator
Christopher Etienne is a journalist and an Africana Studies scholar with a background in creative writing, journalism, and video production. He seeks to use his accolades to spotlight injustice and raise awareness about social issues. Armed with education and empathy, he uses his skillset to instruct and enlighten individuals hailing from justice-impacted communities. He demonstrates his commitment to this work in his professional life. During the spring of 2015, he joined the NJ-STEP program staff, where he tutored formerly incarcerated individuals looking to pursue post-secondary education. Since then, he has worked with various organizations such as Rutgers University, SOBA College Recovery, the Renaissance House, and Brooklyn CRAN, where he mentored individuals seeking post-secondary education, educated at-risk youth, and helped the mentally ill population reacclimate back into society. Mr. Etienne has over a decade of experience working with the justice-impacted community. As he looks toward the future, he hopes to use his resources to create more progressive education and prison reform pathways.
Our Graduate Fellows
Our Funders & Supporters
History
January 2005
2005
PTI is founded by a group of PU astrophysicists led by postdocs Mark Krumholz (’98) and Jenny Greene, and Professor Jill Knapp.
January 2006
2006
Krumholz and his team teach their first PTI class, “Intermediate Algebra with Applications,” at Garden Sate Youth Correctional Facility (and accredited by Mercer County Community College).
January 2007
2007
Krumholz and other Princeton scientists begin teaching classes at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women.
January 2008
2008
- PTI begins teaching English composition courses in partnership with the Woodrow Wilson School and the Pace Center for Civic Engagement.
- PTI also initiates partnerships with The College of New Jersey and Rutgers University to expand course offerings.
January 2013
2013
PTI becomes a founding member of the NJ Scholarship & Transformative Education in Prisons (NJ-STEP) Consortium, which begins to create a comprehensive statewide prison education network.
January 2014
2014
PTI participates in the first-ever college graduation in a New Jersey prison, when 14 students at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women receive associate’s degrees from Raritan Valley Community College.
January 2015
2015
Eight more students, this time at Garden State Youth Correctional Facility, earn associate’s degrees.
January 2016
2016
- PTI becomes part of the university’s Program in Teacher Preparation.
- Jill Knapp initiates a partnership with the Federal Bureau of Prisons at Fort Dix.
January 2017
2017
PTI becomes part of the university’s McGraw Center for Teaching & Learning.
June 2017
June, 2017
PTI launches a STEM Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at Princeton for formerly incarcerated students, with funding from the National Science Foundation.