Huston Smith

American scholar and author of religious studies widely regarded as one of the world's most influential figures in the field. He authored at least thirteen books on world religions and philosophy, and his book The World's Religions (originally titled The Religions of Man) sold over three million copies as of 2017 and remains a popular introduction to comparative religion.

Born and raised in Suzhou, China in a Methodist missionary family, Huston Smith moved to the United States at the age of 17 and graduated from the University of Chicago in 1945 with a PhD in philosophy.

He spent the majority of his academic career as a professor at Washington University in St. Louis (1947-1958), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1958–1973) and Syracuse University (1973–1983). In 1983, he retired from Syracuse and moved to Berkeley, California, where he was a visiting professor of religious studies at the University of California, Berkeley until his death.

While at Washington University, Smith was the host of two National Educational Television series (NET – the forerunner of PBS): The Religions of Man and Search for America.

While at Chicago, Smith married Eleanor Wieman, the daughter of Henry Nelson Wieman, a professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School. She later changed her first name to Kendra. They had three daughters, Karen, Gael, and Kimberly Smith. Huston Smith died on 30 December 2016 at age 97 in Berkeley, California.