Joseph Kitagawa

Joseph Mitsuo Kitagawa (March 8, 1915–October 7, 1992) was a Japanese American professor emeritus of University of Chicago and former dean of its Divinity School, known for his work in the history of religions, particularly on those of the East.

Kitagawa was born in Osaka, Japan and came to the United States in 1941 to study theology. During World War II, Kitagawa was interned at the Minidoka War Relocation Center at Hunt, Idaho, where he remained until October 1945. Kitagawa joined the faculty of the University of Chicago after his graduation in 1951. He became a U.S. citizen in 1955.

His wife, Evelyn M. Kitagawa (1930–2007), was a notable sociologist, and his daughter Anne Rose Kitagawa became a notable curator of Asian art.