Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp

Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp is the Archer Alexander Distinguished Professor at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. She currently serves as interim dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for graduate education, overseeing doctoral programs across Arts & Sciences, Olin Business School, McKelvey School of Engineering, School of Medicine, and Brown School. Her academic career includes 24 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she contributed to building a premier Religious Studies doctoral program.

Education: PhD in Religious Studies from Yale University and BA from Amherst College.

Research focuses on African American religions, Mormonism, and intercultural religious contact. Key themes include Gold Rush California’s Protestant practices, Mormon missions in the Pacific, and African American race histories. She has authored/co-edited major works such as Setting Down the Sacred Past (Harvard UP, 2010) and American Scriptures (Penguin, 2010).

Awards include the Pennington Award (2014) and fellowships from the National Humanities Center and NEH. She formerly chaired the Religious Studies department at UNC-Chapel Hill and served as president of the American Society of Church History and Mormon History Association.

Leadership roles include supervising doctoral programs, managing a $17M budget for graduate education, and guiding university centers/institutes as a provost’s fellow.