Renford Reese received his Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Southern California's School of Policy, Planning, and Development. He conducted his dissertation research on ethnic conflict and intergroup relations at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) in Geneva, Switzerland. He received his Master's degree in public policy from the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies and his Bachelor's degree in political science from Vanderbilt University. His mother was his high school principal and his father is the late pioneer journalist, Earnest Reese. Dr. Reese is in his 27th year as a professor in the political science department at Cal Poly Pomona.