Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2010-11-09

Historian and educator John Wigger is this year’s recipient of the John Pollock Award for Christian Biography given by Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School.

Dr. Wigger won for his 2009 book, American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists (Oxford University Press).

Wigger is professor of history at the University of Missouri, where his teaching and research interests focus on American religious and cultural history. He is also the author of Taking Heaven by Storm: Methodism and the Rise of Popular Christianity In America, 1770-1820. 

The Pollock Award honors Christian biographer John C. Pollock, a British writer whose more than 30 books on religion include The Billy Graham Story and many other biographies. The award is presented annually to the author of the year’s outstanding Christian biography.

Beeson dean Dr. Timothy George will present the award to Wigger during a ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 11.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.