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 forums and devotionals during the 2022 spring and summer terms, select BYU employees and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will bring their industry knowledge, life experiences and spiritual insights to aid students in recognizing and achieving BYU's aims.
Join students, faculty and staff each Tuesday at 11:05 a.m. in the Marriott Center as the campus gather to receive spiritual and temporal edification.
Spring + Summer 2022 Devotional and Forum Schedule
May
- 3: Neill F. Marriott, former Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- 10: Tracy Flinders, vice president of information technology vice president and chief information officer
- 17: Adam T. Woolley, dean of Graduate Studies
- 24: Paul B. Savage, College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences,
2021 Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer (forum)
June
- 7: Richard Osguthorpe, dean of the David O. McKay School of Education
- 21: Tiffany Turley Bowcut, Title IX coordinator
- 28: Rachel Wadham, Harold B. Lee Library
July
- 12: Stacey Shaw, College of Family, Home and Social Sciences
- 19: Chris Mattson, Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering
- 26: Carl L. Hanson, College of Life Sciences (forum in the de Jong Concert Hall)
August
- 2: Janis Nuckolls, College of Humanities (de Jong Concert Hall)
- 16: Elder Quentin L. Cook, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Education Week)
MORE ABOUT THE DEVOTIONAL AND FORUM SPEAKERS
Neill F. Marriott
May 3, Devotional
Sister Marriott is a former member of the Young Women General Presidency, having been called as its second counselor in April 2013 and released in March 2018. Prior to her service, Marriott served on the Church Writing Committee. She has worked in many stake and ward callings and served for three years with her husband when he was president of the Brazil São Paulo Interlagos Mission.
Marriott attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas and earned a degree in English along with a teaching certificate. At the age of 22, she was converted and baptized into the Church. One year later, she married David C. Marriott in the Salt Lake Temple. They are the parents of 11 children and 34 grandchildren.
Tracy Flinders
May 10, Devotional
Flinders is the vice president of information technology and chief information officer at BYU. Prior to his appointment, Flinders served as BYU's chief information security officer and chief privacy officer, responsible for protecting the university's information and providing security services to BYU, BYU–Idaho and BYU–Hawaii.
Additionally, as BYU's chief information security officer, Flinders helped establish and manage a cybersecurity program for the university and created the CES Security Operations Center. Top tech company IDG honored the CES security team with its CSO50 award, noting the outstanding business value and thought that leadership demonstrated in BYU's security operations center, projects and initiatives. Flinders holds a bachelor’s degree in communications studies from BYU, where he also played on the men’s baseball team.
Adam T. Woolley
May 17, Devotional
Woolley is the dean of Graduate Studies. Before this appointment, he was a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Woolley’s scholarship is focused on the interface between miniaturization and biomolecules. He develops microfluidic devices for chemical analysis with an emphasis on biomedically relevant assays and utilizes biomolecules to self-assemble nanoscale electronic systems.
Woolley earned a bachelor’s degree from BYU, received a doctorate in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and completed his postdoctoral work at Harvard University.
Paul B. Savage
May 24, Forum
Savage is the Reed M. Izatt Professor for chemistry and biochemistry. He has authored and co-authored nearly 250 peer-reviewed research papers and has been the recipient of many awards while at BYU, most recently earning the 2021 Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award. He teaches classes describing chemical biology. His research focuses on the design of antibiotics, immune modulators and vaccines for pathogenic bacteria.
Savage earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from BYU, received a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Wisconsin and completed postdoctoral research at Ohio State University before coming to BYU as an assistant professor.
Richard Osguthorpe
June 7, Devotional
Osguthorpe is the dean of the David O. McKay School of Education. Previously, he was a professor in the Department of Teacher Education and the Center for the Improvement of Teacher Education and Schooling (CITES). Before his time at BYU, Osguthorpe was a professor, department chair and dean of the College of Education at Boise State University.
Osguthorpe received a bachelor’s degree from BYU and both a master’s and a doctoral degree from the University of Michigan in educational foundations and policy. His scholarly research predominantly focuses on the moral work of teaching and teacher education. He and his wife, Gwen, have four children, and he enjoys yard work, backpacking, and river rafting.
Tiffany Turley Bowcut
June 21, Devotional
Tiffany Turley Bowcut is the Title IX coordinator at BYU. Prior to serving in this position, she directed BYU’s Women’s Services and Resources office and worked for the state of Utah in varying capacities, including in the governor’s office, with the Utah State Legislature and as a program specialist and senior business analyst at the Department of Workforce Services. Under the appointment of Gov. Gary Herbert, she also served as president of the Utah State Employees Charitable Fund board of directors.
She is a passionate advocate for women and a certified sexual assault crisis counselor. She has spent countless hours volunteering and serving with programs, charities and organizations that support and empower women, including serving as past chairman of the board of directors and current chair of the advisory board for South Valley Services, a local domestic violence shelter. She was also recognized by Utah Valley Magazine as one of their "Fabulous 40" people of 2018.
Rachel Wadham
June 28, Devotional
Wadham is a senior librarian for education and juvenile collections at the Harold B. Lee Library. Wadham has worked at BYU for 26 years. She has served in various roles in the American Library Association, the Utah Library Association, the National Council of Teachers of English and the Children’s Literature Association of Utah.
After completing a bachelor's degree in sociology from BYU, Wadham obtained a master's degree in library science degree from the University of North Texas. She also earned a Master of Education degree in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in adolescent literature from Pennsylvania State University. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in instructional psychology and technology from BYU. Wadham frequently teaches courses on children’s and adolescent literature and has authored three books and numerous other publications in this field.
Stacey Shaw
July 12, Devotional
Shaw is an assistant professor of social work at BYU. She has been a licensed social worker since 2008, and prior to her employment at BYU she worked as a casework supervisor for the International Rescue Committee and project coordinator and clinical supervisor for the Global Health Research Center of Central Asia.
Shaw received the Marjorie Pay Hinckley Young Scholar Award in 2020 and was a visiting senior lecturer at the University of Malaysia in 2015. Since 2006, she has been published over 50 times, with research interests centering on refugee resettlement, mental health, HIV prevention, religion and spirituality. Shaw received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in social work from BYU and received a doctorate in social work from Columbia University.
Chris Mattson
July 19, Devotional
Mattson is a professor of mechanical engineering. Previously, he was a Fulbright Scholar and global director of engineering design and research at ATL Technology. Mattson has received many awards and honors, including the Ben C. Sparks Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the U.S. Government and multiple awards from BYU (Outstanding Faculty Award, Class of ‘49 Endowed Young Scholar Award, Engineering Faculty Development Fellowship and Keith Duffin Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellowship).
Mattson earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from BYU and received a doctorate in mechanical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His research and publications focus on product development, engineering design theory and methodology and multiobjective and multidisciplinary design optimization.
Carl L. Hanson
July 26, Forum (de Jong Concert Hall)
Hanson is a professor of public health. Prior to joining the faculty at BYU in 2005, he spent 11 years as a professor at Montana State University Billings where he served as a faculty member and administrator. He has served on many national and local boards and is currently serving on the Utah County Board of Health, Community Health Connect Board and as co-chair of the BYU Wellness Wise Coalition. He conducts research on mental health, family health and computational health science.
Hanson earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in health science from BYU, where he also competed in track and field/cross country. He received a doctorate in public health education from Southern Illinois University while teaching classes and working at the county health department.
Janis Nuckolls
August 2, Devotional (de Jong Concert Hall)
Nuckolls is a professor for BYU’s Department of Linguistics. She is an anthropological linguist with field experience primarily in Amazonian Ecuador and teaches Kichwa field studies classes at the Andes and Amazon field school in Ecuador’s eastern rainforest. Before coming to BYU in 2007, she taught at Indiana University and at the University of Alabama. Nuckolls has published four books and numerous articles, and she has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the Fulbright-Hays Program and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and her master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Chicago. She and her husband, Charles have three children: Will, who received his bachelor’s degree from BYU majoring in Spanish and minoring in Communication; Margaret who is studying nuclear medicine at the University of Utah; and Catherine who is studying nursing at Joyce University.
Elder Quentin L. Cook
August 16, Education Week Devotional
Elder Cook was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on October 6, 2007. Called as a General Authority in April 1996, he served in the Second Quorum, First Quorum and Presidency of the Seventy. Prior to those callings, Elder Cook served in the Area Presidency in the Philippines, as President of the Pacific Islands and the North America Northwest Areas and as Executive Director of the Missionary Department. Before that, he served as a stake president in the San Francisco California Stake as well as a regional representative and Area Authority in the North America West Area.
At the time of his call to be a General Authority of the Church, Elder Cook was vice chairman of Sutter Health System. He had previously served as president and chief executive officer of a California healthcare system. Prior to that, Elder Cook was a business lawyer and managing partner of a San Francisco Bay Area law firm. He also served on the governing boards of a number of civic and business-related corporations.
Elder Cook received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Utah State University and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Stanford University. Utah State University also awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. He married Mary Gaddie on November 30, 1962. They are the parents of three children and have 11 grandchildren.
