© Equinox Publishing Ltd 2021, Ofce 415, The Workstation, 15 Paternoster Row, Shefeld S1 2BX.
JASR 34.2 (2021) 129–130 JASR ISSN 2047-704X (print)
https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.21072 JASR ISSN 2047-7058 (online)
A Tribute to Professor Gary Bouma, MDiv, MA, PhD, AM
(1942–2021)
Marion Maddox
Macquarie University
Macquarie Park, NSW 2109
Australia
marion.maddox@mq.edu.au
Anna Halafof
Deakin University
Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216
Australia
anna.halafof@deakin.edu.au
Kathleen McPhillips
University of Newcastle
Callaghan, NSW 2308
Australia
kathleen.mcphillips@newcastle.edu.au
Members of the Australian Association for the Study of Religion (AASR)
are mourning our friend, mentor and colleague, Gary Bouma, who died
unexpectedly on 19 August 2021.
Gary’s massive academic legacy includes over 30 books and 360
articles—with many still forthcoming. His most recent book, authored
with Andrew Singleton, Anna Halafof and Mary Lou Rasmussen,
Freedoms, Faiths and Futures: Teenage Australians on Religion, Sexuality
and Diversity, arising from an ARC Discovery Project, was published in
April this year (Singleton et al. 2021). As well as landmark works on
the sociology of Australian religion, including Australian Soul (Bouma
2006), he reshaped Australian understanding of religion in numerous
areas including interreligious understanding, human rights, religion
and youth, education and public policy. His work reached far beyond
the academy, with notable policy work including the Human Rights
Commission’s 2011 inquiry into Freedom of Religion and Belief in 21st