Contributors
God in History Contributors
Elder Merrill J. Bateman
Elder Merrill J. Bateman received his doctorate in Economics from MIT and later became dean of the BYU business school, now the Marriott School of Management (1975-79). He served as the presiding bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints before becoming president of BYU from 1996 to 2003. Called as a Seventy in 1992, he later served in the Presidency of First Quorum of Seventy. Granted emeritus status in 2007, he has since served as president of the Provo Temple. He and his wife, the former Marilyn Scholes, are the parents of seven children and have 35 grandchildren.
Richard O. Cowan
In 1959 Richard O. Cowan was selected as one of four visually impaired students in the nation to receive a special award from President Eisenhower. He received his doctorate at Stanford University in American church history and joined the BYU faculty in 1961. Four years later, he was chosen “Professor of the Year.” He retired in 2014 after 53 years of teaching at BYU. He has written many articles for Church publications, has authored eleven books, including Temples to Dot the Earth and The Doctrine and Covenants – Our Modern Scripture, and is the coauthor of seven others, including the Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History. He is currently working on Temples in the Tops of the Mountains. Dr. Cowan has presented "Education Week," "Know Your Religion," and other lectures throughout North America and in Europe. He has served as a missionary in Texas and New Mexico and also as a member of a stake presidency. For over a decade, he was chairman of the committee that prepares the Gospel Doctrine lessons for the Church. He is currently patriarch in his stake. He and his wife, Dawn, have six children, 22 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Rodney J. Brown
Rodney J. Brown is dean emeritus of Agriculture at Utah State University, dean emeritus of Life Sciences at Brigham Young University, and former US deputy undersecretary of Agriculture. He has served in many callings, including stake president and bishop. He and his wife Sandra have three children, 12 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. They are about to embark on another institute and Young Single Adult mission––this time to the Ohio Columbus Mission.
Brian Q. Cannon
Brian Q. Cannon is Neil L. York Professor of History and chair of the History Department at BYU, where he formerly directed the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies for over 15 years. He is the author of three books, co-editor of three, and has written over two dozen articles on western, rural, and political history in the US and on Latter-day Saint history. Professor Cannon has served on the editorial boards of Agricultural History, the Utah Historical Quarterly and BYU Studies, on the executive committee and as president of the Agricultural History Society, and as president of the Mormon History Association. He received the Alcuin Award and the Wells and Myrle Cloward Teaching and Learning Fellowship from BYU and awards from the Western History Association, the Agricultural History Society, the Mormon History Association, and the Society for History in the Federal Government. He has served as a Gospel Doctrine teacher, stake Sunday School president, ward mission leader, young men's president, and counselor in two bishoprics. He and his wife, Anna Lea, are the parents of five children.
Dr. Donald B. Doty
Donald B. Doty, MD, renowned as a world class thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon, has written four textbooks on the subject and more than 250 scientific articles and chapters. While chief, department of surgery, LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City, UT, 1994-2002, he also served as Area Seventy in the 5th Quorum of the Seventy (1996-2000). Since retirement from the operating room, he served as chairman, Missionary Department Health Services, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, assisted by his wife Cheryl, as a missionary for nine years. He and Cheryl are the parents of two sons and grandparents to six. Very regretfully, Dr. Doty passed away June 26, 2019.
Scott C. Esplin
Scott C. Esplin is a professor of Church History and Doctrine and publications director for the Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University. He earned a BS degree from Southern Utah University, followed by an MEd and PhD from Brigham Young University, focusing his studies on the history of Latter-day Saint church academies. Prior to joining Religious Education at BYU in 2006, he taught seminary and institute in the Church Educational System. Esplin has published histories of Church historic sites including the Salt Lake Tabernacle and the restoration of Nauvoo. His current research continues to examine the history of Latter-day Saint education as well as the development of Church historic sites and religious tourism. He and his wife, the former Janice Garrett, live in Lindon, UT, and are the parents of four children.
Sherilyn Farnes
Sherilyn Farnes is the managing editor of the Wilford Woodruff Papers. She earned her BA and MA from Brigham Young University and is currently a PhD candidate in history at Texas Christian University, where she has received awards for her teaching and research. She earlier worked on the writing team of the first volume of Saints: The Story of The Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days. She has taught religion classes through the University of Utah Institute Program and at BYU and has presented at the American Historical Association (Pacific Coast Branch), Organization of American Historians, Mormon History Association and other history conferences. Her publications have appeared in BYU Studies, Business and Religion: The Intersection of Faith and Finance, Women of Faith in the Latter Days, and Window of Faith: Latter-day Saint Perspectives on World History. Her research interests include women's history, early Latter-day Saint history, borderlands, indigenous studies, and pedagogy.
Eric D. Huntsman
Eric D. Huntsman received a BA in classical Greek and Latin from BYU and an MA and PhD in ancient history from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2003, after teaching for nine years in classics and ancient history at BYU, he transferred to Religious Education, becoming a full professor of ancient scripture in 2015. He taught at the BYU Jerusalem Center, 2011-12, and then directed the Ancient Near Eastern Studies program from 2012 to 2020. He began a two-year appointment as the academic director of the BYU Jerusalem Center in August 2020. A New Testament scholar with a working knowledge of several languages, he is the author or co-author of six books and several articles on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. He has served as a missionary in the Thailand Bangkok Mission, bishop, and temple ordinance worker, and sang with the Tabernacle Choir from 2003 to 2021. Married to N. Elaine Scott, they are the parents of two children.
Craig James Ostler
Craig James Ostler, emeritus professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University, has written or edited numerous articles and books on Latter-day Saint doctrine and history, including, Revelations of the Restoration and Salt Lake City: Ensign to the Nations. He is an executive producer of videos and publications on Latter-day Saint Church history sites and has a collection of thousands of photographs on biblical lands, early Latter-day Saint Church history, and current sites, many of which are available online at churchofjesuschrist.org He has served in many Church callings, including as a missionary in Colombia, bishop, and member of three stake high councils. He and his wife Sandy are the parents of seven children.
Roy A. Prete
Roy A. Prete is an emeritus professor at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, ON. He obtained his MA from Brigham Young University and his PhD from the University of Alberta. He has published several articles on World War I and two books in a trilogy, Strategy and Command: The Anglo-French Coalition on the Western Front—with volumes for 1914 and 1915, and a third to come for 1916. He is the editor or co-editor of eight books including, Window of Faith: Latter-day Saint Perspectives on World History; The Mormons: An Illustrated History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and Canadian Mormons: History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Canada, which won the Smith-Pettit Best Book Award in 2018. He has served as a missionary in France, as bishop, high councilor, and counselor in a district and a mission presidency. Most recently, he served as a senior missionary with his wife, Carma Taylor Prete, in the Family and Church History Headquarters Mission in Salt Lake City, UT. They are the parents of six children and grandparents of 26.
LeRoy E. Whitehead
LeRoy E. Whitehead obtained his PhD in Education Administration from the University of Calgary, before moving from Alberta to Ontario. A faculty member for 35 years (now retired) in the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, he served for 13 years as associate dean. His publications and research have been in education foundations, education reform and trans-nationalization of teacher education. He has served as bishop, high councilor and counselor in a mission presidency. Most recently, he and his wife, Patricia Plowman Whitehead, served as a senior missionary couple in Suva, Fiji. They are the parents of six children and grandparents to three boys.