Jan Shipps

Jo Ann Barnett Shipps (October 24, 1929 – April 14, 2025), known as Jan Shipps, was an American historian specializing in Mormon history, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century and into the 21st century. Shipps was generally regarded as the foremost non-Mormon scholar of the Latter Day Saint movement, having given particular attention to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Her first book on the subject was Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition published by the University of Illinois Press. In 2000, the University of Illinois Press published her book Sojourner in the Promised Land: Forty Years Among the Mormons, in which she interweaves her own history of Mormon-watching with 16 essays on Mormon history and culture.