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Professor Ph.D. University of Chicago, 1971 Office: 1252 Van Hise Hall |
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The Free Thinkers recognized the efforts of Professor Knipe by awarding him with an endowed stool. The Free Thinkers wanted to show Professor Knipe their appreciation for his years of outstanding service and support to the department and its students. The endowed stool came about as a compromise since the association could not afford an endowed chair. |
| Best Wishes David! | Professor David Knipe retired from his distinguished career in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia (South Asian Studies), Center for South Asia, and Religious Studies Program, at the end of the Fall semester, 2001. He moved from Madison to Virginia where he joined his wife, Susan. He has ongoing research and writing projects to which he will turn his full attention. | |
 David
Maclay Knipe joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison
as a Lecturer in the Department of South Asian Studies in the Fall of 1967,
while completing his Ph.D. in History of Religions under the direction of
Mircea Eliade at the University of Chicago. His previous studies had earned
him a Bachelors in Philosophy at Cornell University, a Masters in the History
of Religions at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, mastery of
Sanskrit and Indology at the University of Uppsala in Sweden, and a Masters
in History of Religions at the University of Chicago.
With his doctorate in hand, David became an Assistant Professor at UW-Madison in 1971, achieving promotion to full professor in 1980. In his 34 years at Madison, he has received numerous awards and honors including Kemper Knapp award, several Graduate School Research awards, the Department of South Asian Studies teaching award, a Social Science Research Council award, several American Institute of Indian Studies Senior Research Fellow awards, and has been named in Who’s Who in Religion. His field research has taken him to several sites in India: Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and the Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh, with additional research in Spain, Ireland, Turkey, Malta and Sicily, Egypt, Tunisia, and other Mediterranean, West European, West and South Asian sites. In 1991 Harper Collins published David’s book, Hinduism. Experiments in the Sacred, as Part 7 of Religious Traditions of the World, edited by H. Byron Earhart. Considered a definitive work on Hinduism, the book is distributed internationally and has been translated into Russian and Czech. In addition to his books, articles, and reviews, invited papers, and lectures, David developed and produced the Exploring the Religions of South Asia video lecture series in 1974/75. The series includes fifteen 30-minute lectures, written, narrated, and directed by David. They continue to be used today by educators around the world. His photography has been exhibited in the Godavari Delta of Andhra, and at the Annual Conference on South Asia in Madison, and has been published in his scholarly books as well as in The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions, other books, teaching guides, and newspapers. As a Professor in the Departments of Languages and Cultures of Asia (formerly South Asian Studies) and Religious Studies, David has advised over 140 students in their Ph.D., Ph.D. minor, M.A., and B.A. programs. He has served as Chair of the Department of South Asian Studies and Director of the Center for South Asia. Through David’s vision, the undergraduate program in Religious Studies was developed on the UW-Madison campus, and he served as Chair of that program from 1976 to 1994. Recently, David received national recognition through the American Academy of Religion 2001 Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion. The award reflects the extent to which his “video series Exploring the Religions of South Asia, produced for public television, has been used by universities, public libraries, and museums in North America, Europe, and Australia”; and the numerous occasions that “he has been a guest on Wisconsin public radio, commenting on topics of current and historical interest in religion.” The award will be presented to David at ceremonies including the presidential address at the AAR annual meeting in Denver, November 17, 2001. A special thanks to Sharon Dickson for providing us with David's biography. |
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Last updated
June 29, 2004
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