05/13/2026
Professor Emeritus Paul Laughlin, a longtime faculty member and chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion, died last month. Laughlin was a well-respected and inspirational teacher and scholar at Otterbein for 33 years until his retirement in 2012. A native of Northern Kentucky, he was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Cincinnati in classical Latin and Greek studies, and earned his master of divinity degree and doctorate degree in religion from Emory University. He published numerous books and articles on a wide range of topics in religious studies, his most recent major projects being Remedial Christianity: What Every Believer Should Know about the Faith, but Probably Doesn’t and Getting Oriented: What Every Christian Should Know about Eastern Religions, but Probably Doesn't. A former United Methodist minister and an ordained Unity minister, Laughlin was an accomplished jazz pianist and a frequent guest speaker, workshop leader, and musician at churches and conferences all over the country. His INST 380 course, Human Nature in World Religions and Philosophies, was legendary among his students and opened the eyes of many hundreds of students to the wonder of the world's religious traditions. He will be missed by all of us who knew him, worked with him, and learned from him.
