Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies

Joseph B. Tamney, Ph.D.

In Memoriam:

Dr. Joseph B. Tamney was a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Ball State University (USA). He received his B.S. (1954) and M.A. (1957) from Fordham University, and his Ph. D. (1962) from Cornell University. Along his career, he has been a member of the editorial Board for the Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, an editor of Sociology of Religion (1994-2000) and of the ASA religion section Newsletter (2000-2002), the president of the Association for the Sociology of Religion (2003-4), as well as the elected chair of the Publications Committee of the Religious Research Association.

His published works included The Resilience of Christianity in the Modern World (State University of New York Press, 1992), American Society in the Buddhist Mirror (Garland, 1992), The Struggle Over Singapore’s Soul: Western Modernization and Asian Culture (Walter de Gruyter, 1996), The Resilience of Conservative Religion (Cambridge University Press, 2002), and, with Linda Hsueh-Ling Chiang, Modernization, Globalization, and Confucianism in Chinese Societies (Praeger, 2002). With Fenggang Yang, he co-edited State, Market, and Religions in Chinese Societies (Brill, 2005). Among his published articles we could mention "Buddhism under Study" in American Sociology of Religion: Histories, Anthony J. Blasi ed. (Brill, 2007), or “Malaysia’s Islamist Landscape,” in Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst (September 2007, 4-5).

Professor Tamney passed away, after a struggle with cancer, on 25 October, 2009, in Reston, Virginia. The Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies is deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and friend, and joins in the prayers of his family and friends.