BYU seeks to develop students of faith, intellect and character who have the skills and the desire to continue learning and to serve others throughout their lives. For the weekly devotionals and forums during the 2022 fall semester, select BYU employees, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and industry experts will bring their industry knowledge, life experiences and spiritual insights to aid students in achieving BYU's aims.
Please plan to join together with students and employees each Tuesday at 11:05 a.m. in the Marriott Center for a truly unique experience as the campus gathers to receive spiritual and temporal edification.
FALL 2022 DEVOTIONAL AND FORUM SCHEDULE
September
- 6 – President Kevin J and Sister Peggy Worthen
- 13 – President Dallin H. Oaks, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- 20 – Brother Steven J. Lund, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- 27 – Kendra Hall-Kenyon, BYU McKay School of Education
October
- 4 – Michael Drake, BYU Marriott School of Business
- 11 – Homecoming Opening Ceremony
- 18 – Elder Kevin W. Pearson, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- 25 – Paul Cox, American ethnobotanist (Forum)
November
- 1 – President Susan H. Porter, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- 8 – Jenet Erickson, BYU Religious Education
- 15 – Elder Peter M. Johnson, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- 29 – Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist (Forum)
December
- 6 – Elder Ulisses Soares, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
ABOUT THE FALL 2022 DEVOTIONAL AND FORUM SPEAKERS:
BYU President Kevin J Worthen
September 6, Devotional
Kevin J Worthen began serving as the 13th president of Brigham Young University on May 1, 2014. He previously served as BYU's advancement vice president and as the dean of its J. Reuben Clark Law School, where he was the Hugh W. Colton Professor of Law. President and Sister Worthen have three children and six grandchildren.
President Worthen was born in Dragerton (now East Carbon-Sunnyside), Utah, and grew up in nearby Price. After serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Monterrey, Mexico, he earned an associate degree from the College of Eastern Utah (now Utah State University Eastern). He then received his Bachelor of Arts in political science and his Juris Doctor from BYU. Following his graduation from the J. Reuben Clark Law School, President Worthen served as a law clerk to Judge Malcolm R. Wilkey of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Justice Byron R. White of the U.S. Supreme Court. After three years of private practice with the law firm Jennings, Strouss & Salmon in Phoenix, Arizona, President Worthen joined the BYU Law School faculty in 1987. In 1994, he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Chile Law School in Santiago. He has published extensively on a number of legal topics, with particular emphasis on federal American Indian law and the rights of indigenous peoples.
Peggy S. Worthen
September 6, Devotional
Peggy Sealey Worthen, born and raised in Price, Utah, is the second oldest of five children. She is married to BYU President Kevin J Worthen. While she was attending the College of Eastern Utah, she met Kevin at a church dance, and the two soon began dating. Although she grew up three blocks from Kevin and his family, their three-year age difference meant they never went to high school at the same time or knew each other well. She and Kevin were married in the Provo Utah Temple.
Early in their marriage, Peggy worked in a number of jobs to support their family, including as a receptionist for U.S. Senator Jake Garn, as Kevin finished his education and started his career. She was able to return to school when Kevin began teaching, and she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from BYU in 2003, the same year their oldest son graduated from high school. She has taken a number of courses since then, including two years of Norwegian.
Dallin H. Oaks
September 13, Devotional
President Dallin H. Oaks was sustained and set apart as first counselor in the First Presidency and president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sunday, January 14, 2018.
He is a graduate of BYU and of the University of Chicago Law School. He practiced law and taught law in Chicago. He was president of BYU from 1971 to 1980, and a justice of the Utah Supreme Court from 1980 until his resignation in 1984 to accept his calling to the apostleship. President Oaks is a native of Provo, Utah.
Steven J. Lund
September 20, Devotional
Brother Steven J. Lund was sustained as Young Men General President on April 4, 2020. Lund’s past Church assignments have included service as a full-time missionary in the Netherlands Amsterdam Mission, mission president in the Georgia Atlanta Mission, Area Seventy, coordinator of the Provo City Center Temple Dedication Committee and member of the Young Men general board.
Lund received an undergraduate degree in communications and a law degree, both from BYU. He worked as an attorney before becoming president and CEO of a large, Utah-based cosmetics company. He is currently its executive chairman of the board of directors.
Kendra Hall-Kenyon
September 27, Devotional
Kendra Hall-Kenyon graduated from BYU with her bachelor’s degree in family science. She also has her MA and PhD in human development from Columbia University. In June, she was named the interim dean of the David O. McKay School of Education.
Hall-Kenyon has spent her career teaching and conducting research focused on early literacy instruction and assessment and teacher education. She began her career at BYU in 2002 in the Department of Teacher Education where she has served as the department chair since 2016.
Michael Drake
October 4, Devotional
Michael Drake is the K. Fred Skousen Professor of Accounting in the School of Accountancy at the BYU Marriott School of Business. He earned his bachelors and master’s degrees in accounting at BYU and his doctorate in accounting at Texas A&M University. Prior to joining BYU Marriott in 2011, he was on faculty at the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University and worked professionally at Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young.
Drake’s research is focused on understanding how financial information is used in capital markets and has been published in the top academic journals in his field, including the Journal of Accounting Research, the Journal of Accounting and Economics and The Accounting Review. He teaches in graduate programs in the Marriott School and is the author of a textbook titled "Financial Accounting for Managers." Drake is a massive sports fan and was a member of the BYU men's soccer team. He and his wife, McKenzie, are the parents of five children.
Elder Kevin W. Pearson
October 18, Devotional
Elder Kevin W. Pearson was sustained as a General Authority Seventy on April 5, 2008. He previously served as a mission president, counselor in the Europe East Area, president of the Pacific Area, an area assistant in the North America Southwest Area and an assistant executive director of the Missionary Department.
Elder Pearson received his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Utah and his master’s degree in business administration in corporate finance from Harvard Business School. Prior to his call, he was working as the chief executive officer at Ingenix, Inc. He is currently serving at Church headquarters as the president of the Utah Area.
Paul Cox
October 25, Forum
Paul A. Cox is an American ethnobotanist whose scientific research focuses on discovering new medicines by studying patterns of wellness and illness among indigenous people. After serving as a professor and dean at BYU, he was named a distinguished professor at Uppsala University in Sweden.
Cox earned degrees at BYU, the University of Wales and Harvard University.
President Susan H. Porter
November 1, Devotional
Susan Holland Porter was sustained as President of the Primary General Presidency at the April 2022 general conference. Porter has served in many callings, including as a Primary music leader, Gospel Doctrine teacher, member of a ward Young Women and Relief Society presidencies, ward Relief Society president and member of a stake Relief Society presidency.
Porter graduated from BYU with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. In addition to volunteering with various community and civic organizations, President Porter has worked as a lab assistant for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and as a part-time math teacher.
Jenet Erickson
November 8, Devotional
Jenet Jacob Erickson is an associate professor in the Department of Church History and Doctrine in Religious Education at BYU. She is also a research fellow of both the Wheatley Institution and the Institute for Family Studies and a columnist on family issues for the Deseret News.
Erickson received her bachelor’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in linguistics at BYU. She then completed a Ph.D. in family social science from the University of Minnesota. Her research has focused on maternal and child well-being in the context of work and family life, as well as the distinct contributions of mothers and fathers in children's development. She and her husband Michael are the parents of two children, who bring them unending opportunities for learning and joy.
Elder Peter M. Johnson
November 15, Devotional
Elder Peter M. Johnson was sustained as a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 6, 2019, at age 52. He has served in a number of Church callings, including full-time missionary in the Alabama Birmingham Mission, stake president and mission president of the England Manchester Mission.
He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Southern Utah University. He received a Ph.D. in accounting from Arizona State University. Johnson began his career in 1992 as staff accountant for Grant Thornton CPA. He has worked as an associate professor at BYU–Hawaii, assistant professor of accountancy at BYU and associate professor of accountancy at the University of Alabama.
Katharine Hayhoe
November 29, Forum
Katharine Anne Scott Hayhoe is a Canadian climate scientist and chief scientist for the Nature Conservancy. The daughter of Christian missionaries to Colombia, Hayhoe teaches at Texas Tech University, where she holds the Endowed Chair in Public Policy and Public Law in the university’s public administration program.
She has researched widely on climate change and has earned degrees from the University of Toronto and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Elder Ulisses Soares
December 6, Devotional
Prior to his call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Soares had been serving as a General Authority Seventy since April 2, 2005. He was named a member of the Presidency of the Seventy on January 6, 2013. He served previously as a counselor in the Africa Southeast Area, president of the Brazil Area and as a counselor in the Brazil South Area.
He was an accountant and auditor for multinational corporations in Brazil and director for temporal affairs in the Church area office in São Paulo, Brazil. At the time of his call as a General Authority, he was serving on a special assignment for the Presiding Bishopric of the Church in Salt Lake City.
