John Lofland, an American sociologist, died on February 4, 2026, at age 79.
Born John Franklin Lofland in Milford, Delaware, he was best known for his studies of the peace movement and for his first book, Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith. Based on fieldwork among Unification Church members in California in the 1960s, the book became one of the most widely cited studies of religious conversion and an early sociological study of a new religious movement.
Lofland earned a PhD in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and served as a professor in the sociology department at the University of California, Davis, where he was emeritus professor.
John Franklin Lofland (March 4, 1946 – February 4, 2026) was an American sociologist best known for his studies of the peace movement and for his first book, Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith, which was based on field work among a group of Unification Church members in California in the 1960s. It is considered to be one of the most important and widely cited studies of the process of religious conversion, and one of the first modern sociological studies of a new religious movement.