avg_rating: 3.97
name: Van C. Gessel
about: Van C. Gessel was born in Compton, California, and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there in October 1968. He served as a missionary to Japan from 1970-71. He received a Ph.D. in Japanese literature from Columbia University in 1979, and he has taught as a faculty member at Columbia, Notre Dame, UC Berkeley, and Brigham Young University. He was chair of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at BYU and dean of the College of Humanities.Dr. Gessel has published six translations of literary works by the Japanese Christian novelist Endō Shūsaku, including The Samurai and Deep River. Another Endō novel, The Life of Kiku, will appear soon in his translation. He co-edited, with Reid Neilson, a vol Van C. Gessel was born in Compton, California, and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there in October 1968. He served as a missionary to Japan from 1970-71. He received a Ph.D. in Japanese literature from Columbia University in 1979, and he has taught as a faculty member at Columbia, Notre Dame, UC Berkeley, and Brigham Young University. He was chair of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at BYU and dean of the College of Humanities.Dr. Gessel has published six translations of literary works by the Japanese Christian novelist Endō Shūsaku, including The Samurai and Deep River. Another Endō novel, The Life of Kiku, will appear soon in his translation. He co-edited, with Reid Neilson, a volume of essays titled Taking the Gospel to the Japanese: 1901 to 2001, which received the Geraldine McBride Woodward Award from the Mormon History Association for the best international Mormon history publication. He co-edited The Shōwa Anthology and served as co-editor, with J. Thomas Rimer, of The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature (Volume 1 published in 2005, Volume 2 in 2007).In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he has served as bishop and a stake president at BYU. From 2005-2008, he presided over the Oregon Portland Mission of the Church.He and his wife, Elizabeth Darley Gessel, are the parents of three children, and they have five grandchildren. ...more