Wade Clark Roof (July 25, 1939 - August 24, 2019) was an American sociologist and academic. He was the J. F. Rowny Professor of Religion and Society at the University of California. He was a key figure in the founding of Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life. His research focused on American religious life. He won the Association for the Sociology of Religion's Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to the Sociology of Religion in 2018.

Early life and education

Roof grew up in the Sandhills region of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Clark earned a bachelor of art degree from

Wofford College Wofford College is a private liberal arts college in Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1854, it is one of the few four-year institutions in the southeastern United States founded before the American Civil War that still ope ...

in 1961, M Div. from

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

in 1964 and an M.A. in 1969. He studied for his PhD at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

graduating in 1971.

Career

He joined the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

as J. F. Rowny Professor of Religion and Society in 1989. At the university, his research contributed significantly to the understanding of changing American religious life. His focus on sociology of religion and studies on liberal or mainline Protestantism brought him to intellectual limelight. His 1993 book: ''A generation of Seekers'' which focused on changing spiritualities amongst baby boomers was received with critical acclaim earning him appearances on national media. He later became a religion analyst with NBC, CBS and PBS. Roof retired in 2013. He won the Association for the Sociology of Religion's Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to the Sociology of Religion in 2018. In 2019, he was posthumously awarded the Martin E. Marty Public Understanding of Religion Award presented by the

American Academy of Religion The American Academy of Religion (AAR) is the world's largest association of scholarly method, scholars in the List of academic disciplines, field of religious studies and related topics. It is a nonprofit member association, serving as a profess ...

. Roof died on 24 August 2019.

Books

*''A Generation of Seekers: The Spiritual Journeys of the Baby Boom Generation'' (1993) *''Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion'' *with William McKinney ''American Mainline Religion: Its Changing Shape and Future'' *with Jackson W. Carroll ''Bridging Divided Worlds'' *editor The Post-war Generation And The Establishment Of Religion

References

{{Reflist 1939 births 2019 deaths American sociologists American academics Wofford College alumni Yale Divinity School alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni University of California, Santa Barbara faculty