Wade Clark Roof holds a PhD in the sociology and psychology of religion from the University of North Carolina. He is Professor and Chair of the Department of Religion at UCSB. His main areas of research interest are sociology of religion and American religious trends, and he has published widely in both fields, most recently serving as editor in chief for Macmillan Reference s "Contemporary American Religion "(2000). He also teaches a range of both undergraduate and graduate courses on religion and society.