Stephen Alexander Donatelli was born on August 1, 1953 at “Women’s Hospital” in Philadelphia and resided until he was 18 years old in East Norriton, PA. He attended LaSalle College High School (1967-71) and Penn State University (1971-75). He received a Master’s of Fine Arts from Johns Hopkins University (1979) and subsequently lived in Boston, Massachusetts and Florence, Italy where he worked as a teacher and translator. Upon returning from residing and traveling in Italy, he matriculated doctoral studies in Comparative Literature at Brown University and received his Ph.D. in 1985. As a teaching professor, Dr. Donatelli specialized in teaching writing at Harvard University, University of Singapore and Princeton University as well as directing writing curricula at  Cornell University and New York University. In addition to developing eclectic courses in the humanities that examined broad topics such as Comedy and Color, he also held seminars on dissertation writing for doctoral students and consulted universities and schools on the role of writing in their educational discernment (department-wide and institution-wide). Loved by friends and family for his creativity in sharing gifts and his incisive spirit in letter writing and conversation, Stephen realized the art of being a great friend and was true to that persona throughout his life. He is pre-deceased by his beloved parents, Rosemary Hackett Donatelli and Americus “Don” Donatelli as well as his younger sister, Katherine Donatelli. His survivors include nephew, Alexander Heitzenrater (Jersey City, New Jersey) and a wide array of relatives in the Philadelphia area. Dr. Donatelli passed on June 11, 2025 (approx. date).