Leigh Eric Schmidt

Leigh Eric Schmidt is a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, holding the Edward C. Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in the Humanities. He is affiliated with the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics and the Department of Religious Studies.

• Charles Warren Professor of American Religious History at Harvard University (2009–2011)
• Agate Brown and George L. Collord Professor of Religion at Princeton University (1995–2009)
• Professor at Drew University (1989–1995)

His research focuses on American religious history, secularism, spiritual seeking, and the cultural intersections of religion, consumerism, and politics. He has authored major works on holiday commercialization, religious liberalism, and secularist movements.

His recent articles explore secularism’s ritual dimensions, the historical evolution of spirituality, and the cultural analysis of religious decline, reflecting his expertise in American religious pluralism and its contested boundaries.

Notable awards include the American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence, American Studies Association’s John Hope Franklin Prize, and the American Society of Church History’s Brewer Prize. He was appointed a Distinguished Lecturer by the Organization of American Historians in 2015.

Schmidt earned a BA in history and religious studies from the University of California, Riverside, and a PhD in religion from Princeton University. He has held research fellowships from Stanford, Princeton, NEH, ACLS, American Philosophical Society, and Guggenheim Foundation.