Dr. Donald B. Kraybill, Distinguished College Professor and Senior Fellow at the College’s Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, will be retiring at the end of June.

An expert on Amish culture, Kraybill is the author of 28 books on the subject and is renowned worldwide for his studies on Anabaptist faith and living. Raised in Lancaster county as a Mennonite, he became especially interested in the Amish when working under John Hostetler, a leading scholar of Amish culture, as he received his Ph.D. in sociology from Temple University.

Kraybill is the author of Amish studies published worldwide in eight different languages. He served as a consultant for several projects relating to Amish and Anabaptist culture. His research is featured in journals, magazines, newspapers, on television and on the radio.

From 1979 to 1985, Kraybill was chair of the sociology and social work department at Elizabethtown College. In 1989, he began serving as director for the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, where he stayed until 1996, when he became provost of Messiah College until 2002. He has taught at Etown since 2003.

After concluding his teaching career at the end of this semester, Kraybill will remain a researcher on campus.