David Ponton, III earned his BA in Religion from Princeton University, where he also received certification in African American Studies and secondary social studies education.  His current research focuses on residential segregation, Cold War-era transformations of race and racism, and the criminalization of space in mid-twentieth century Houston.

David Ponton gave two lectures as a Scholar-in-Residence 2016.

"It Was Like a Nightmare": Police Brutality in Houston, 1950-1967   

"Mapping the Margins" Again: Intimate Partner Violence against Black Women in Jim Crow Houston