McCall Religious Liberty Award Presented At Baylor Commencement

December 20, 2004

by Lori Scott Fogleman

The Baylor University Alumni Association presented Dr. Edwin S. Gaustad with the Abner V. McCall Religious Liberty Award during commencement exercises on Dec. 18. The award is given to Baylor graduates who exemplify the dedication and commitment to religious liberty demonstrated by former Baylor president Judge Abner V. McCall.
A 1947 Baylor graduate, Gaustad is a noted scholar in religious history in America. He earned both his master's degree and doctorate from Brown University, and he taught history at the University of California-Riverside from 1965 until his retirement in 1989.
He previously served on the faculty at Shorter College and the University of the Redlands, California, and he has been a visiting professor at Baylor, the University of Richmond, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Auburn University. A leading scholar in the history of religion, he has written or edited almost 30 books, including The Historical Atlas of Religion in America and A Religious History of America.
In 1984, he was named a Man of Merit by Omicron Delta Kappa at Baylor, and he is a distinguished alumnus of Brown University.
Now a resident of Santa Fe, N.M., Gaustad has been married to Virginia Morgan Gaustad since 1946. They have three children and four grandchildren.