Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California has appointed distinguished Latter-day Saint scholar Richard Lyman Bushman as the Howard W. Hunter Visiting Professor in Mormon Studies at its School of Religion, beginning in fall 2008.
Dr. Bushman’s appointment is named after Howard W. Hunter, the fourteenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fundraising for an endowed chair named after President Hunter is still underway. “These funds will allow the establishment of the first permanent, graduate-level study of Mormonism at a secular university,” said Joseph Bentley, chair of the Mormon Studies Council at Claremont.

Dr. Bushman, emeritus from the Gouverneur Morris Chair of American History at Columbia University, will play a key role in the establishment of that program. “We consider him to be the single most widely known and highly regarded historian of Mormonism,” noted Karen Torjesen, Dean of the Claremont School of Religion. “Here, we are committed to studying the full breadth of religious experience. With his broad background in American cultural and religious history, Professor Bushman will make a vitally important contribution to our mission.”

In addition to his career at Columbia, Dr. Bushman has taught at Boston University, Harvard, Brown, the University of Delaware and Brigham Young University. He is the author of twelve books, receiving such recognitions as the Bancroft Prize in American History and the Phi Alpha Theta Prize. His Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, published in 2005, received the Evans biography award and the Mormon History Association Best Book Award.

Dr. Bushman expressed his satisfaction at the appointment. “It is an honor to hold a position named after President Hunter, a man whom I greatly admired. Establishing a program in Mormon Studies at a university of Claremont’s stature is a thrilling challenge,” he said. “I want to do whatever it takes to get the program going.”

During the academic year 2007-2008, Dr. Bushman will hold a Huntington Library fellowship while residing at nearby Pasadena. His presence in southern California will allow him to begin development of the Claremont program.

His wife, Dr. Claudia Lauper Bushman, herself a distinguished scholar in American history at Columbia University, will also teach courses at Claremont as an adjunct professor.

Observed Robert Klitgaard, President of Claremont Graduate University: “CGU is part of the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of seven academic schools created on the Oxford model. Founded in 1925 on a 19-acre campus, CGU is an independent institution devoted entirely to graduate research and study. It is the first graduate-only university in America. More than 2,200 students from eight academic schools study and strive to create practical solutions for the major problems plaguing our world.”

Preparations to establish the Mormon Studies program at CGU have been underway since its School of Religion was formed in 2000 under the direction of Dean Torjesen and the Mormon Studies Council at Claremont – one of eight advisory councils to the School of Religion. Activities have included courses taught by Dr. Armand L. Mauss and several conferences and public lectures by nationally renowned scholars.

Momentum increased when the University and the Howard W. Hunter Foundation publicly announced in April 2006 a multi-million dollar endowment campaign to fund the Howard W. Hunter Chair and accompanying programs.

Dr. Mauss, a prominent scholar in Mormon Studies in his own right, chose not to be a candidate for the appointment. “The Claremont program will be in excellent hands with Richard Bushman as its founder,” he commented. “No other scholar in the field can match his stature and accomplishment.”