Vern Leroy Bullough (July 24, 1928 – June 21, 2006) was an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and sexologist. He was a distinguished

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

at the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

( SUNY) at Buffalo, Faculty President at

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

, a past president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, past Dean of natural and social sciences at the

Buffalo State College The State University of New York Buffalo State University (colloquially referred to as Buffalo State University, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo State, or simply Buff State) is a public college, public university in Buffalo, New York. It is part of ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, one of the founders of the American Association for the History of Nursing, and a member of the editorial board of ''Paidika: The Journal of Paedophilia''.

Early life and career

Born in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

, to a

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

family, Bullough earned his A.B. at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

in 1951. He then attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, earning an A.M. in 1951 and a Ph.D in 1954, and was a university fellow during 1953-1954. In 1981, he received a B.S.N. from

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...

. According to the university, he is the author, co-author, or editor of nearly 50 books, has contributed chapters to another 75 or so, and has over 100 refereed articles, and hundreds of more popular ones. His expertise encompasses several fields: sexology, history, community health and public policy, contraception and population issues. He has lectured in most of the 50 states and 20 or so foreign countries including China, Russia, Greece, Egypt, Ghana, et al. Among his many awards is the Alfred Kinsey Award for distinguished sex research. He began teaching at Youngstown University, where he was an Assistant Professor of History and Social Science from 1954-1959. He then moved to

, in 1959, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1962, and to Professor in 1965. Later in his career he taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo and

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

. In 1992, Bullough received a Distinguished Humanist Service Award from the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), and served as co-Chairman of the IHEU (1995-1996). In 2003, he was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto. Today, Bullough is remembered mainly as an eminent sexologist and medical historian, and a pioneer in the scientific study of alternative sexual behaviors.

Personal life and death

He was married in 1947 to Bonnie Bullough and had five children, the oldest of whom died in childhood in Egypt in 1967. After the death of Bonnie Bullough in 1996, he married Gwen Brewer. He died in Westlake Village in 2006.

Legacy

Bullough's archives reside at the University Library at

, where an endowment in his name funds special lectures, scholarships, and collection development in sex and gender studies.

References

Published works

*1964: ''The history of prostitution''. *1969: ''The emergence of modern nursing''. *1970: ''Man in Western civilization''. *1973: ''The subordinate sex : a history of attitudes toward women''. *1976: ''Sexual variance in society and history''. *1976: ''Sex, society, and history''. *1977: ''A Bibliography of prostitution''. New York: Garland (with others) *1977: ''Sin, sickness & sanity : a history of sexual attitudes''. *1978: ''Prostitution : an illustrated social history''. *1979: ''Homosexuality : a history''. *1982: ''Sexual practices and the medieval church''. New York: Prometheus Books *1982: ''Health care for the other Americans''. *1983: ''Nursing issues and nursing strategies for the eighties''. *1984: ''History, trends, and politics of nursing''. *1987: ''Women and prostitution : a social history''. *1993: ''Cross Dressing, Sex, and Gender (with Bonnie Bullough) *1994: ''Human sexuality: an encyclopedia''. *1994: ''Nursing issues for the nineties and beyond''. *1995: ''Sexual attitudes : myths & realities''. *1996: ''Handbook of medieval sexuality''. *1997: ''Contraception : a guide to birth control methods : condoms, spermicides, diaphragms, sterilization, natural family planning, the pill''. *2001: ''Encyclopedia of birth control''. *2002: ''Before Stonewall: activists for gay and lesbian rights in historical context''. *2004: ''Universities, medicine and science in the medieval west''. *2005: ''Adolescence, sexuality, and the criminal law: multidisciplinary perspectives''.

External links