Nathan O. Hatch
Encyclopedia
Nathan O. Hatch is president of Wake Forest University
, USA, having been officially installed on October 20, 2005.
, Hatch graduated summa cum laude from Wheaton College (1968) in Illinois and earned his master's (1972) and doctoral (1974) degrees from Washington University in St. Louis
. He has held postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard and Johns Hopkins
universities and has been awarded research grants by the NEH, the American Council of Learned Societies
, and the American Antiquarian Society
.
Hatch became a member of the faculty at the University of Notre Dame
in 1975, and directed graduate studies in Notre Dame's history department from 1980-83, during which time he was also awarded the college's Paul Fenlon Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching. He served as associate dean of Notre Dame's College of Arts and Letters, its largest academic unit, from 1983-88, and from 1988-89 was the college's acting dean. Also during that time he founded and directed the Institute of Scholarship in the Liberal Arts (ISLA), which fostered a sixfold increase in external funding of faculty in the humanities and social sciences and assisted Notre Dame faculty members in winning 21 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) fellowships from 1985-91. In 1999 Hatch was appointed the Andrew V. Tackes Professor of History at Notre Dame.
In 1989 Hatch was appointed Notre Dame's vice president for graduate studies and research. In 1996, he became the university's provost — the third person to hold the position since its establishment in 1970. As provost he was the Notre Dame's second ranking officer and, under the direction of the president, exercised overall responsibility for the academic enterprise. He held this office until 2005, at which time he became president of Wake Forest University.
Dr. Hatch is regularly cited as one of the most influential scholars in the study of the history of religion in America. His book The Democratization of American Christianity, published by Yale University Press in 1989, garnered three awards, including the 1989 Albert Outler Prize in Ecumenical Church History and the 1990 John Hope Franklin Prize as the best book in American studies. Professor Gordon Wood
of Brown University called it "the best book on religion in the early Republic that has ever been written"; it was also chosen in a survey of 2,000 historians and sociologists as one of the two most important books in the study of American religion.
Earlier Hatch had published The Sacred Cause of Liberty: Republican Thought and the Millennium in Revolutionary New England [1977], also with (ale University Press]), and with historians George Marsden
and Mark Noll
co-authored the 1983 volume The Search for Christian America (Crossway Books). He has co-edited two books with (Oxford University Press
), The Bible in America (with Mark Noll, 1981) and Jonathan Edwards and the American Experience (with Harry Stout, 1989). In 2001 he co-edited Methodism and the Shaping of American Culture (Abingdon Press) with John Wigger. He has also edited a volume with the University of Notre Dame Press
, The Professions in American History [1988]. In 1982, along with Mark Noll, he co-founded the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals (ISAE) at his undergraduate alma mater, Wheaton College. In 1990, Hatch secured funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts to establish the Evangelical Scholarship Initiative at Notre Dame which provided grants for senior evangelical scholars, sabbatical funding, and scholarhsips for evangelical graduate students across a wide swath of disciplines. In 1993 he served as president of the merican Society of Church History].
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
, USA, having been officially installed on October 20, 2005.
Biography
Born and raised in Columbia, South CarolinaColumbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
, Hatch graduated summa cum laude from Wheaton College (1968) in Illinois and earned his master's (1972) and doctoral (1974) degrees from Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
. He has held postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard and Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
universities and has been awarded research grants by the NEH, the American Council of Learned Societies
American Council of Learned Societies
The American Council of Learned Societies , founded in 1919, is a private nonprofit federation of seventy scholarly organizations.ACLS is best known as a funder of humanities research through fellowships and grants awards. ACLS Fellowships are designed to permit scholars holding the Ph.D...
, and the American Antiquarian Society
American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society , located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and national research library of pre-twentieth century American History and culture. Its main building, known also as Antiquarian Hall, is a U.S. National Historic Landmark...
.
Hatch became a member of the faculty at the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
in 1975, and directed graduate studies in Notre Dame's history department from 1980-83, during which time he was also awarded the college's Paul Fenlon Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching. He served as associate dean of Notre Dame's College of Arts and Letters, its largest academic unit, from 1983-88, and from 1988-89 was the college's acting dean. Also during that time he founded and directed the Institute of Scholarship in the Liberal Arts (ISLA), which fostered a sixfold increase in external funding of faculty in the humanities and social sciences and assisted Notre Dame faculty members in winning 21 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) fellowships from 1985-91. In 1999 Hatch was appointed the Andrew V. Tackes Professor of History at Notre Dame.
In 1989 Hatch was appointed Notre Dame's vice president for graduate studies and research. In 1996, he became the university's provost — the third person to hold the position since its establishment in 1970. As provost he was the Notre Dame's second ranking officer and, under the direction of the president, exercised overall responsibility for the academic enterprise. He held this office until 2005, at which time he became president of Wake Forest University.
Dr. Hatch is regularly cited as one of the most influential scholars in the study of the history of religion in America. His book The Democratization of American Christianity, published by Yale University Press in 1989, garnered three awards, including the 1989 Albert Outler Prize in Ecumenical Church History and the 1990 John Hope Franklin Prize as the best book in American studies. Professor Gordon Wood
Gordon S. Wood
Gordon S. Wood is Alva O. Way University Professor and Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University and the recipient of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for History for The Radicalism of the American Revolution. His book The Creation of the American Republic, 1776–1787 won a 1970 Bancroft Prize...
of Brown University called it "the best book on religion in the early Republic that has ever been written"; it was also chosen in a survey of 2,000 historians and sociologists as one of the two most important books in the study of American religion.
Earlier Hatch had published The Sacred Cause of Liberty: Republican Thought and the Millennium in Revolutionary New England [1977], also with (ale University Press]), and with historians George Marsden
George Marsden
George M. Marsden is an historian who has written extensively on the interaction between Christianity and American culture, particularly on Christianity in American higher education and on American Evangelicalism...
and Mark Noll
Mark Noll
Mark A. Noll is a historian specializing in the history of Christianity in the United States. He holds the position of Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame...
co-authored the 1983 volume The Search for Christian America (Crossway Books). He has co-edited two books with (Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
), The Bible in America (with Mark Noll, 1981) and Jonathan Edwards and the American Experience (with Harry Stout, 1989). In 2001 he co-edited Methodism and the Shaping of American Culture (Abingdon Press) with John Wigger. He has also edited a volume with the University of Notre Dame Press
University of Notre Dame Press
The University of Notre Dame Press is a university press that is part of the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States.-External links:*...
, The Professions in American History [1988]. In 1982, along with Mark Noll, he co-founded the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals (ISAE) at his undergraduate alma mater, Wheaton College. In 1990, Hatch secured funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts to establish the Evangelical Scholarship Initiative at Notre Dame which provided grants for senior evangelical scholars, sabbatical funding, and scholarhsips for evangelical graduate students across a wide swath of disciplines. In 1993 he served as president of the merican Society of Church History].