Brigham Young University is a private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Jeffrey Roy Holland is an American educator and religious leader. He served as the ninth President of Brigham Young University (BYU) and is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Holland is accepted by the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator. Currently, he is the fourth most senior apostle in the church.
Charles William Penrose was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1904 to 1911. Penrose was also a member of the First Presidency, serving as a counselor to church presidents Joseph F. Smith and Heber J. Grant from 1911 until his death.
James Edward Talmage was an English chemist, geologist, and religious leader who served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1911 until his death.
Richard Roswell Lyman was an American engineer and religious leader who was an apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1918 to 1943.
Abraham Owen Smoot was an American pioneer, businessman, religious leader, and politician. He spent his early life in the Southern United States and was one of seven children. After being baptized a member of the Church of Christ, predecessor to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Smoot served as a missionary in Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, and England. He received no formal education, but learned to read as a child and later attended the School of the Prophets in Kirtland, Ohio. Like other early members of the LDS Church, Smoot practiced plural marriage, eventually marrying six women and having 24 children. After migrating west to Utah Territory, he was elected as the second mayor of Salt Lake City and maintained this position from 1857 to 1866. He was then assigned by Brigham Young to move to Provo, where he served as stake president and mayor from 1868 to 1881. He assisted financially in the construction of the Provo Tabernacle—today the Provo City Center Temple—as well as that of the Utah Southern Railroad. Smoot was the first president of the board of trustees of Brigham Young Academy (BYA)—which later developed into Brigham Young University (BYU). He was an early financial supporter of the institution and was nicknamed the "foster father" of the academy. His goal was to make education available to young Latter-day Saints. Today, the Smoot Administration Building at BYU is named after him.
George Henry Brimhall was president of Brigham Young University (BYU) from 1904 to 1921. After graduating from Brigham Young Academy (BYA), Brimhall served as principal of Spanish Fork schools and then as district superintendent of Utah County schools, finally returning to BYU. In April 1904, Brimhall became president of the school, which had become BYU in October 1903. As president of BYU, Brimhall helped institute the collegiate program, departments for specific subjects, and an emphasis on religious learning.
Merrill Joseph Bateman has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1992, originally as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy. He is currently an emeritus general authority. From 2003 to 2007, Bateman was a member of the church's Presidency of the Seventy. He was president of Brigham Young University (BYU) from January 1, 1996, until May 1, 2003, and was the church's twelfth presiding bishop in 1994 and 1995. In 2003 and 2004, Bateman was the general president of the church's Sunday School organization. From 2007 to 2010, Bateman was president of the Provo Utah Temple.
Alice Louise Reynolds was a Brigham Young University (BYU) professor. Reynolds furthered her studies out east, receiving a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan. She taught college-level courses at Brigham Young Academy until it dissolved into BYU, and she was the first woman to do so. She was the second woman in Utah to be named a full professor, and the first woman to be a full professor at BYU. She worked to establish the library at Brigham Young Academy, and through her efforts, she was able to collect over 100,000 donated volumes. She worked as an editor for the Relief Society Magazine and contributed to other LDS Church-affiliated magazines. Reynolds was an outspoken Democrat and served on the party's committee and as a delegate to the party's national convention. Reynolds died in 1938 of cancer.
The history of Brigham Young University (BYU) begins in 1875, when the school was called Brigham Young Academy (BYA). The school did not reach university status until 1903, in a decision made by the school's board of trustees at the request of BYU president Benjamin Cluff. It became accredited during the tenure of Franklin S. Harris, under whom it gained national recognition as a university. A period of expansion after World War II caused the student body to grow many times in size, making BYU the largest private university of the time. The school's history is closely connected with its sponsor, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Robert James Matthews was a Latter-day Saint religious educator and scholar, teaching in the departments of Ancient Scripture and Religious Education at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah.
Fred Lewis Markham was an American architect in the early 20th century who designed movie theatres and many buildings on the campus of Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah.
Ralph Lanier Britsch was a history professor at Brigham Young University who specialized in the history of missionary work by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, particularly in the Pacific Islands and Asia.
Todd A. Britsch is an emeritus professor of humanities and a former academic vice president at Brigham Young University (BYU).
Francis Washington Kirkham was a prominent educator and the author of New Witness For Christ in America: Evidence of Divine Power in the "Coming Forth" of the Book of Mormon, one of the earliest book-length defenses of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
Joseph Brigham Keeler was an American teacher and administrator at Brigham Young Academy (BYA) and then Brigham Young University (BYU). He was for a time a counselor to George H. Brimhall when the school had a presidency similar to other LDS Church Presidencies.
Thomas Earl Pardoe (1885–1971) was the first head of the Brigham Young University (BYU) drama program. One of the main theaters in the Harris Fine Arts Center at BYU is named for him and his wife, Kathryn Bassett Pardoe, who was also an influential drama teacher at BYU.
John C. Swensen (1869–1953) was a professor of sociology at Brigham Young University (BYU) for 54 years and the first athletic director at BYU.
Martha Jane Knowlton Coray was an American Mormon pioneer, record keeper, and educator. She was the only female member of the first board of trustees of Brigham Young Academy. Born in Kentucky and raised in Ohio and Illinois, Coray converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a young woman and moved to the Mormon settlement of Nauvoo. There, she assisted Lucy Mack Smith, the mother of Joseph Smith, in creating a biography of Joseph, later published under the title History of Joseph Smith by His Mother. After crossing the Great Plains alongside other Mormon pioneers, Coray settled in Utah Territory, homesteading in towns such as Tooele and Mona. She helped support her family financially through dairy production, home chemistry, and other crafts. Though she never received formal schooling, Coray studied various topics in her free time and sought to teach her children what she knew. She took an interest in law, becoming involved in local court disputes and political discussions. Towards the end of her life, in 1875, Coray was appointed a member of the first Brigham Young Academy Board of Trustees, the only woman to serve in this capacity at the time. While serving as trustee, she focused her efforts on encouraging education for young women and creating a curriculum of religious education for the academy. Today, the lecture hall in the Karl G. Maeser Building on Brigham Young University's campus bears Coray's name, and the university's 1997 homecoming celebrations honored her achievements.
The David O. McKay School of Education (SOE) at Brigham Young University (BYU) specializes in teaching, administration, communication disorders, and educational inquiry. It is located in three buildings on BYU's campus in Provo, Utah, the David O. McKay Building, the John Taylor Building, and the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse. It was ranked number 84 in the United States for best education schools for 2021.
