Huston Smith

Huston Smith
Smith in 2005
Born(1919-05-31)May 31, 1919
Suzhou, China
DiedDecember 30, 2016(2016-12-30) (aged 97)
Berkeley, California, US
Known forAuthor of The World's Religions
SpouseKendra Smith
Academic background
EducationCentral Methodist University (BA)
University of Chicago (PhD)
Academic work
DisciplineReligious studies, philosophy
InstitutionsUniversity of Denver
Washington University in St. Louis
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Syracuse University
University of California, Berkeley

Huston Cummings Smith (May 31, 1919 – December 30, 2016) was a scholar of religious studies in the United States,[1][2][3][4][5] He authored at least thirteen books on world's religions and philosophy, and his book about comparative religion, The World's Religions (originally titled The Religions of Man) sold over three million copies as of 2017.[5][6][7][8]

Born and raised in Suzhou, China, in an American Methodist missionary family, Smith moved back to the United States at the age of 17 and graduated from the University of Chicago in 1945 with a PhD in philosophy.[1][9] He spent the majority of his academic career as a professor at Washington University in St. Louis (1947–1958), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1958–1973) and Syracuse University (1973–1983).[1][9] In 1983, he retired from Syracuse and moved to Berkeley, California, where he was a visiting professor of religious studies at the University of California, Berkeley, until his death.[1][9][10]

  1. ^ a b c d Martin, Douglas; Hevesi, Dennis (2017-01-01). "Huston Smith, Author of 'The World's Religions,' Dies at 97". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  2. ^ Rourke, Mary (5 January 2017). "Huston Smith, pioneering teacher of world religions, dies at 97". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  3. ^ John Blake (2 January 2017). "Huston Smith's painful spiritual odyssey". CNN. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  4. ^ The Way Things Are. University of California Press. 2003.
  5. ^ a b Bill, Williams (July 27, 2009). "Religion scholar stresses events over emotions". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-08-06.
  6. ^ Martin, Douglas; Hevesi, Dennis (January 2017). "Huston Smith, Author of 'The World's Religions,' Dies at 97". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  7. ^ "Review of PBS Bill Moyers' interview of Huston Smith" Archived 2013-01-11 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Knowing Huston Smith". The Interfaith Observer. 12 October 2011. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  9. ^ a b c "Huston Smith Papers An inventory of his papers at the Syracuse University Archives". library.syr.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  10. ^ Siow, Fionce; Staff (2017-01-05). "UC Berkeley visiting professor of religious studies Huston Smith dies at 97". The Daily Californian. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 2019-03-15.