Vern Leroy Bullough (July 24, 1928 – June 21, 2006) was an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and

sexologist Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behaviors, and functions. The term ''sexology'' does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sexuality, such as social criticism. Sexologists app ...

. He was a distinguished

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

at the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...

( SUNY) at Buffalo, Faculty President at

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

, a past president of the

Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS, or "quad-S") is a 501(c)3 non-profit professional membership organization "dedicated to advancing knowledge of sexuality and communicating scientifically based sexuality research and scholars ...

, past

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of natural and social sciences at the

Buffalo State College The State University of New York College at Buffalo (colloquially referred to as Buffalo State College, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo State, or simply Buff State) is a public college in Buffalo, New York. It is part of the State University of Ne ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, one of the founders of the American Association for the History of Nursing, and a member of the editorial board of ''Paidika: The Journal of Paedophilia''.

Biography

Born in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, Bullough earned his

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

in 1951. He then attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, earning an A.M. in 1951 and a Ph.D in 1954, and was a university fellow during 1953-1954. In 1981 he received a B.S.N. from

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

. According to the university: :He is the author, co-author, or editor of nearly 50 books, has contributed chapters to another 75 or so, and has over 100 refereed articles, and hundreds of more popular ones. His expertise encompasses several fields: sexology, history, community health and public policy, contraception and population issues. He has lectured in most of the 50 states and 20 or so foreign countries including China, Russia, Greece, Egypt, Ghana, et al. Among his many awards is the Alfred Kinsey Award for distinguished sex research. He began teaching at Youngstown University, where he was an Assistant Professor of History and Social Science from 1954-1959. He then moved to

in 1959, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1962, and to Professor in 1965. In 1992 Bullough received a Distinguished Humanist Service Award from the

International Humanist and Ethical Union Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Found ...

(IHEU), and served as co-Chairman of the IHEU (1995-1996). In 2003 he was one of the signers of the

Humanist Manifesto ''Humanist Manifesto'' is the title of three manifestos laying out a humanist worldview. They are the original '' Humanist Manifesto'' (1933, often referred to as Humanist Manifesto I), the ''Humanist Manifesto II'' (1973), and ''Humanism and I ...

. Today Bullough is remembered mainly as an eminent sexologist and medical historian, and a pioneer in the scientific study of alternative sexual behaviors. He was married first to

Bonnie Bullough Bonnie Bullough (5 January 1927 in Delta, Utah – 12 April 1996) was an accomplished sexologist and author, who helped to develop the first Nurse Practitioner Program in California at UCLA in 1968. Throughout her career, she edited or wrote 30 boo ...

and had five children, the oldest of whom died in childhood in Egypt in 1967. After the death of

in 1996 he married Gwen Brewer. He died in

Westlake Village Westlake Village is a city in Los Angeles County on its western border with Ventura County. The City of Westlake Village incorporated in 1981 becoming the 82nd municipality of Los Angeles County.Baker, Pam (2002). ''Thousand Oaks Westlake Vil ...

in 2006.

Legacy

Bullough's archives reside at the University Library at

, where an endowment in his name funds special lectures, scholarships, and collection development in sex and gender studies.

References

Published works

*1977: ''A Bibliography of Prostitution''. New York: Garland (with others) *1982: ''Sexual Practices and the Medieval Church''. New York: Prometheus Books *1994: ''Human sexuality: an encyclopedia''. New York: Garland *2004: ''Universities, Medicine and Science in the Medieval West,'' Ashgate

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bullough, Vern 1928 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers Historians of LGBT topics LGBT rights activists from the United States Writers from Salt Lake City American sexologists University of Chicago alumni University of Utah alumni California State University, Long Beach alumni University at Buffalo faculty American male non-fiction writers

Biography

Legacy

References

Further reading

Published works

External links