Dr. John Alessio received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1981. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts from Loyola University in Chicago, conferred in 1970, and a Master of Arts degree from Eastern Illinois University, conferred in 1973.

He is currently a tenured full Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Courses he teaches are Advanced Research Methods, the Sociology of Social Responsibility, Senior Project, and Social Problems. Dr. Alessio is a long standing campus leader on various curriculum matters such as protecting the general education program as well as minority, gender, and multi-cultural programs from reductions, and he has been instrumental in getting a Citizenship and Democracy course to be a required part of the General Education Program at St. Cloud State University. Dr. Alessio has held numerous state and local leadership positions such as President of the Faculty Association and member of the state inter-faculty organization board of directors. He wrote and directed a $175,000 curriculum transformation grant and is the author of many scholarly papers and reports that have been published in prestigious journals.