 Polito team-taught an ASHLAB graduate seminar with digital designer Irwin Chen and poets Tom Healy and Adam Fitzgerald.In January 2013, it was announced that Polito was selected as the second President of the Poetry Foundation, succeeding John Barr.Soon after the announcement, Meghan O'Rourke reported that Critics argue that the [Poetry] foundation, led by an investment banker and poet named John Barr, hasn't spent its money wisely or aggressively enough.