Nathan Orr Hatch was a scholar of religious history in America and the thirteenth president of Wake Forest University. He was born May 17, 1946, in Columbia, S.C., to Reverend James M. (Buck) Hatch and Mittie Orr Hatch. Buck Hatch was a professor at Columbia International University (S.C.) and a Presbyterian minister. Buck and Mittie Hatch had four boys together: James Donald, Nathan Orr, David Bradley, and Robert Allen (died 1989).
Hatch completed high school in Columbia, S.C. (1964) and attended Wheaton College in Illinois, graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree (1968). He then attended Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, for a Master of Arts degree (1972) and PhD (1974). Hatch then held postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard University and Johns Hopkins before joining the faculty of University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He served as Professor (1975-2005), Vice President of Graduate Studies and Research (1989-1996), and Provost (1996-2005) at Notre Dame.
In 2005, Dr. Hatch became the thirteenth president of Wake Forest University. During his tenure as president, Wake Forest was ranked 23 in the U.S. News and World Report annual college rankings. He also spearheaded the Wake Will capital campaign which began in 2013 and helped raise $1 billion in funds for the University, including $400 million added to the institution's endowment.
Hatch is the author of eight books, most notably
Hatch is married to Julie Gregg Hatch; they met while undergraduate students at Wheaton College. She graduated in 1969 and became a public school teacher. Together they have two sons, David and Gregg, and one daughter, Beth.
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This collection documents the years of Hatch's presidency of Wake Forest, 2005-2021, as well as some of his personal life. Material types include email messages, event invitations and programs, memorabilia, news articles, photographs, reports, speeches and remarks, and videocassettes,
President's Office. Nathan O. Hatch Records (RG1.13), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
This collection is open for use.
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Digitized materials from this collection are available in Z. Smith Reynolds Library Digital Collections.