Perry, Edmund F.

Theologian Edmund Franklin Perry was born in Chickamauga, Georgia on May 18, 1923. He earned his PhD from Northwestern University in 1950, returning to the University in 1954 as a professor in the Department of History and the Literature of Religions. Perry specialized in comparative religions and was known as a key figure in interfaith relations, especially for his work promoting dialogue between the Christian and Buddhist faiths. His own academic work focused on the growing field of world and comparative religions. Perry retired in 1992 and died in 1998.

Perry was the son of James McDaniel Perry, a Methodist minister, and Rubye (Griffin) Perry. Perry grew up in Chickamauga and graduated from Marietta High School in 1940. He attended Reinhardt Junior College, graduating in 1942. He received his B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Georgia in 1944, and in 1946 received his B.D. from Emory University, where he was a National Methodist Scholar. He married Lena Bowers in 1946, and they had three sons: Edmund, Philip and Peter.

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