Hugh Urban

Hugh Bayard Urban is a professor of religious studies at Ohio State University's Department of Comparative Studies and author of eight books and several academic articles, including a history of the Church of Scientology, published by Princeton University Press in 2012. He received his PhD in history of religions from the University of Chicago.

Early life, education and family Urban is the son of a psychologist and Pennsylvania State University professor and was brought up in a devout Episcopal family. He is married to Nancy Jesser, who also teaches in the Department of Comparative Studies at Ohio State University. They have one child.

Academic research Urban's academic focus began with the religions of India and expanded to his studies of new religious movements in both the United States and Europe, about which he has written many academic books and articles.

By 2011, Urban had expanded his research into the practices of the Church of Scientology, incorporating his information into a new book titled The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion (published by Princeton University Press) which received praise: Michael Shermer, founder of The Skeptics Society and a columnist for Scientific American, called Urban's book "the most scholarly treatment of the organization to date." Kirkus Reviews called the book "a fascinating and oftentimes mind-bending account of how penny-a-word sci-fi writer L. Ron Hubbard doggedly pursued the religion angle in his quest to create the worldwide Church of Scientology." in his (Muldoon's) 1951 book The Phenomena of Astral Projection co-written with Hereward Carrington.