David Baily Harned (Ph.D., Yale Graduate School) is a retired professor of religious studies who remains active as a classroom teacher and a scholarly writer. He taught at Williams, Smith and Allegheny Colleges, and served a five year term as President at Allegheny College. His longer terms of service were seven years as the Dean of Arts and Sciences at Louisiana State University and ten years as the founding chairman of the Department or Religious Studies at the University of Virginia.