In 1990, author Patrick Middleton became the first prisoner in America to earn his Bachelor of Arts, Master’s and Ph.D. degrees, all while incarcerated. His academic accomplishments were made possible through the University of Pittsburgh. During his tenure as a graduate student, he taught and lectured undergraduates; paid room and board to the Department of Corrections; won several fellowships, teaching awards, and small literary prizes; and co-authored a textbook in experimental psychology with the University’s Dean of Psychology.

Today, 29 years into his incarceration, he is working on the final chapters of his autobiography, tentatively titled, I Shade My Laurels: The Autobiography of An American Criminal.