Christopher Ellison

Christopher G. Ellison is currently Dean’s Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Demography at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He earned his B.A. in Religion from Duke University in 1982 and his Ph.D. in Sociology from the same institution in 1991. Prior to joining the UTSA faculty in 2010, he taught at the University of Texas at Austin for 19 years. Much of his research has centered on three main topics: (a) the role of religion and spirituality in mental and physical health and well-being; (b) religion and family life, with particular attention to intimate relationships and childrearing values and practices; and (c) the role of religion in the lives of racial and ethnic minority populations, especially African Americans and Latinx Americans. To date, he has published two books and nearly 250 peer-reviewed articles and chapters on these and other topics. In 2004, Ellison was named a Highly Cited Author (Social Sciences, General category) by the Institute for Scientific Information. He has served as President of the Association for the Sociology of Religion and the Southern Sociological Society, and he has also chaired the Sociology of Religion section of the American Sociological Association. He has served on the editorial boards of a wide array of scholarly journals and has held various other elective and appointed offices in numerous professional organizations. Over the years, his work has been funded by the NIA, NICHD, NSF, Lilly Endowment, and various other private foundations.