Dean R. Hoge (May 27, 1937 – September 13, 2008) was an American sociologist, who spent decades studying American

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

s, especially empirical surveys on the priesthood.

Biography

Hoge spend his childhood at

New Knoxville, Ohio New Knoxville is a village in Auglaize County, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1836. The population was 879 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Wapakoneta, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area. History New Knoxville was platted ...

Holley, Jo
Dean Hoge; Wrote Key Studies on Religion
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', 2008-09-19, p. B09, retrieved 2008-09-26 and later graduated from the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

School of Architecture (B.S.,

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

, 1960). After studies in 1961 at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

2005 President's Distinguished Service Award
, retrieved 2008-09-28 he received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...

in 1964 and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in 1967 and a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in 1970, both in sociology from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

.Academic CV and list of publications
retrieved 2008-09-26 He served as an instructor and

assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and general ...

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...

, ''Department of Christianity and Society'' in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

before joining

Catholic University Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univ ...

's faculty in 1974. He served as director of the university's Life Cycle Institute from 1999 to 2004. In his 34-year career, he wrote 25 books about religious life in America.Obituary (National Catholic Reporter)
, retrieved 2008-09-26 His research primarily focused on Catholicism. His first major work was ''Understanding Church Growth and Decline 1950-1978'', co-edited with David Roozen. In 1987 he published ''The Future of Catholic Leadership: Responses to the Priest Shortage'', and in 2001 he co-authored ''Young Adult Catholics: Religion in the Culture of Choice''. He co-authored ''American Catholics: Gender, Generation, and Commitment'' (2001), authored ''The First Five Years of the Priesthood'' (2002), and co-authored ''Evolving Visions of the Priesthood'' (2003) and ''International Priests in America'' (2006). Two major Protestant research studies resulted in co-authored books, ''Vanishing Boundaries: The Religion of Mainline Protestant Baby Boomers'' (1994) and ''Pastors in Transition: Why Clergy Leave Local Church Ministry'' (2005). A cross-denominational study, including Catholics, looked into factors in church giving and led to the book ''Money Matters: Personal Giving in American Churches'' (1996). In 1979/80, he served as president of the Religious Research Association and from October 2007 until his death he served as president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR).Presidents of SSSR
Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, retrieved 2008-09-21

References

1937 births 2008 deaths Sociologists of religion Harvard Divinity School alumni Princeton Theological Seminary faculty Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture alumni University of Bonn alumni Catholic University of America faculty American sociologists People from Auglaize County, Ohio {{reli-sociologist-stub