Stanford Bookstore Meet the Author: Anthony Baxter

Join us for a book event with Stanford alumnus, Dr. Anthony Baxter, celebrating his book, "From Prisoner to PhD: Reflections on My Pathway to Desistance from Crime and Addiction."

A first-person account of self-realization, From Prisoner to PhD combines narrative and analysis to elucidate the role personal commitment plays in successfully fulfilling one highest potential. Consisting of three sections—“When My Life Caused Me,” “When I Stopped My Life from Causing Me,” and “When I Caused My Life”—this book poses a very important question, how does an African American man with a prison record and history of addiction transform his maladaptive and dysfunctional behaviors into positive and productive ones even when his social educational background militates against him successfully doing so?

This book describes the transitions, turning points, and transformations in the life course of a black man from a disadvantaged background who transcended his acquired oppositional-defiant character to create his own identity, one that is more in line with what he envisions as his higher potential self.