Every Tuesday at 11:05 a.m., students, faculty and staff head to the Marriott Center for the weekly Devotional or Forum address. BYU President Kevin J Worthen and his wife Peggy kick off the semester and are followed by members of the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BYU employees and a range of industry leaders and thinkers. Entertainment assemblies celebrating the talent of BYU students round out the semester schedule.
Devotional and Forums are open to the public and most are broadcast and streamed live on BYUtv, Classical 89 FM and BYU Radio, and will be archived on speeches.byu.edu.
Winter 2020 Devotional and Forum Schedule
January
- January 7: President Kevin J Worthen and Sister Peggy S. Worthen (Devotional)
- January 14: Elder Michael T. Ringwood, executive director of the Priesthood and Family Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Devotional)
- January 21: Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Devotional)
- January 28: Alan Stern, NASA planetary scientist and space program executive (Forum)
February
- February 4: Sister Bonnie H. Cordon, Young Women general president, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Devotional)
- February 11: Elder Terence M. Vinson, General Authority Seventy, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Devotional)
- February 25: Marcus Roberts, jazz artist, and Greg Clark, BYU English professor (Forum)
March
- March 3: President M. Russell Ballard, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Devotional)
- March 10: Steven M. Sandberg, BYU assistant to the president and general counsel (Devotional)
- March 17: Elder Jack N. Gerard, General Authority Seventy, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Devotional)
- March 24: (POSTPONED) Dambisa Moyo, international economist (Forum)
- March 31: (CANCELED) Performance Devotional
April
- April 7: (POSTPONED) Estela Marquez, BYU Multicultural Student Services (Devotional)
- April 14: (CANCELED) Unforum
About the Winter 2020 Devotional and Forum Speakers:
BYU President Kevin J Worthen
January 7, 2020 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 dean of its J. Reuben Clark Law School, where he is the Hugh W. Colton Professor of Law.
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 at the College of Eastern Utah (now USU 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 D.C. Circuit and Justice Byron R. White of the U.S. Supreme Court. After three years of private practice with the law firm of 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 Indian law and the rights of indigenous peoples.
President Worthen currently serves as an area seventy in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
President and Sister Worthen have three children and six grandchildren.
Peggy Worthen
January 7, 2020 Devotional
Peggy Sealey Worthen, born and raised in Price, Utah, is the second oldest of five children. She is married to Kevin J Worthen, current president of Brigham Young University.
While she was attending the College of Eastern Utah, she met Kevin Worthen 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 and didn’t know each other well. In college, she began meeting with the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and when she decided to be baptized, Kevin was able to baptize her. She and Kevin were married in the Provo Utah LDS 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 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.
Elder Michael T. Ringwood
Executive Director of the Priesthood and Family Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
January 14, 2020 Devotional
Elder Michael T. Ringwood was sustained as a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 4, 2009. He is currently serving at Church headquarters as Executive Director of the Priesthood and Family Department and as a member of the Priesthood and Family Executive Committee.
Elder Ringwood graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in accounting from Brigham Young University in 1983.
Elder Ringwood has served in a number of Church callings, including a full-time missionary in the Korea Seoul Mission, bishop, high councilor, high priests group leader, Scoutmaster, stake president, and mission president.
Michael Tally Ringwood was born in Provo, Utah, on February 14, 1958. He married Rosalie Nelson in December 1982. They are the parents of five children.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
January 21, 2020 Devotional
Elder Ronald A. Rasband was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on October 3, 2015. He had been serving as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy since 2005 and was serving as the senior president of the Presidency of the Seventy when called to the Twelve. Elder Rasband was named a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 1, 2000. He has served as a counselor in the Europe Central Area Presidency, president of the Utah Salt Lake City Area, executive director of the Temple Department; and has supervised the North America West, Northwest, and three Utah areas as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy.
Elder Rasband attended the University of Utah. In 1995, Utah Valley University awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Business and Commerce. In 1976 he joined Huntsman Container Company as sales representative, and in 1987, he was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of Huntsman Chemical Corporation.
When he left Huntsman Chemical Corporation in 1996 to serve as a mission president in New York, he was also serving as a member of the Board of Directors.
Alan Stern
NASA Planetary Scientist
January 28, 2020 Forum
A celebrated planetary scientist and space program executive, Alan Stern is at the helm of one of the most significant and celebrated space program projects in history – NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto – completed in 2015 after more than 26 years of advocating for the trailblazing mission. Stern's career in space exploration is extensive and features more than 25 years in space instrument development and a 2-year stint as NASA's Chief of all science missions, where he oversaw a record 10 major new flight projects and the implementation of all of NASA's science research, education and public outreach programs.
Sister Bonnie H. Cordon
Young Women General President, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
February 4, 2020 Devotional
Sister Bonnie Hillam Cordon was serving as the First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency when she was called to be the Young Women General President on March 31, 2018.
As a young adult, Sister Cordon served a full-time mission in the Portugal Lisbon Mission. Later, from 2010 to 2013, she served with her husband as he presided over the Brazil Curitiba Mission. Sister Cordon has served in several callings in her ward and stake Primary, Young Women, and Relief Society organizations. She also taught early-morning seminary and has been a two-time nursery leader.
Sister Cordon received a bachelor’s degree in education from Brigham Young University. She worked in management in the software industry and later started her own business.
Sister Cordon was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho. She and her husband, Derek L. Cordon, are the parents of four children.
Elder Terence M. Vinson
General Authority Seventy, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
February 11, 2020 Devotional
Elder Terence M. Vinson was sustained as a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 6, 2013. At the time of his call, he had been serving as a member of the Eighth Quorum of the Seventy in the Pacific Area. Following his call as a General Authority, he served for five years in the Africa West Area Presidency, the final two years as Area President. Elder Vinson was named a member of the Presidency of the Seventy on August 1, 2018. He currently has supervisory responsibilities, working with three different members of the Twelve, for the North America Southeast, Africa Southeast, and Africa West Areas.
In 1974 Elder Vinson received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and statistics from Sydney University and an education and teaching diploma from Sydney Teachers College. He was also awarded a master’s degree in applied finance in 1996 from Macquarie University. His career has involved teaching math as well as training and lecturing at universities. His main occupation for the final 23 years of his working career was as a financial adviser and funds manager. He retired in 2011 as joint CEO and chairman of a business he began called Northhaven Wealth Management. He continued to consult for that firm until he was called as a General Authority.
Terence Michael Vinson was born in Sydney, Australia, on March 12, 1951. He married Kay Anne Carden in May 1974. They are the parents of six children.
Marcus Roberts & Greg Clark
Jazz Artist and BYU English Professor
February 25, 2020 Forum
Blinded at five years old, Marthaniel “Marcus” Roberts is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader and teacher. Roberts began teaching himself piano at an early age, eventually joining Wynton Marsalis’s band in the 1980s. Like Marsalis's, his music is rooted in the traditional jazz of the past. The Marcus Roberts Trio is known for its virtuosic style and entirely new approach to jazz trio performance. All members of the Marcus Roberts Trio shape the music’s direction by changing its tempo, mood, texture or form at any time.
Greg Clark, a BYU English professor, has performed with Roberts since 2015. The Trio improvises their jazz, and Clark and Roberts discuss what musical improvisation can teach us about democratic manners – the art of getting along.
President M. Russell Ballard
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
March 3, 2020 Devotional
President M. Russell Ballard has served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter–day Saints since October 6, 1985. He was set apart as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles by President Russell M. Nelson on January 14, 2018.
He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 8, 1928, to Melvin R. and Geraldine Smith Ballard. He attended the University of Utah.
As a young man, he served a mission to England where he was a counselor in the mission presidency. He has also served as a bishop twice.
In 1974, he was called as president of the Canada Toronto Mission where he was serving when called to the First Quorum of the Seventy in April of 1976. As a member of the Seventy, he supervised and trained leaders in his assigned geographic regions. He later served as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy from February 1980 to October 1985, overseeing the Church’s Quorum of the Seventy. Much of his ministry has been focused on missionary work.
Prior to his call as a full–time Church leader, Elder Ballard had interests in the automotive, real estate, and investment businesses. He has served on many Church and civic committees and boards.
He married Barbara Bowen in the Salt Lake Temple on August 28, 1951. They are the parents of two sons and five daughters.
Steven M. Sandberg
BYU Assistant to the President and General Counsel
March 17, 2020 Devotional
Steven M. Sandberg was appointed assistant to the president and general counsel at BYU in November of 2018. He oversees all legal, compliance, risk management, audit and regulatory affairs for the university. He also coordinates legal affairs for BYU–Hawaii, BYU–Idaho and LDS Business College.
A BYU alumnus who majored in English and was a National Merit/Trustees Scholar, Sandberg received his juris doctorate from Columbia University School of Law. He served as a law clerk to Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and practiced law at Morrison & Foerster LLP in Irvine, Calif.
Elder Jack N. Gerard
General Authority Seventy, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
March 17, 2020 Devotional
Elder Jack N. Gerard was sustained as a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on March 31, 2018, at age 60. At the time of his call, he had been serving as a Gospel Doctrine teacher and Sunday School president. He served as a member of the Sixth Quorum of the Seventy from 2010 to 2016.
Elder Gerard received a bachelor of arts degree in political science and a juris doctor degree, both from George Washington University. During his career, he has worked as president and CEO for several entities, including McClure, Gerard & Neuenschwander, Inc.; National Mining Association; American Chemistry Council; and, most recently, American Petroleum Institute.
Jack Noel Gerard was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on December 15, 1957. He married Claudette Neff in 1984. They are the parents of eight children.
(POSTPONED) Dambisa Moyo
International Economist
March 24, 2020 Forum
A Zambian-born international economist and author who analyzes the macroeconomy and global affairs, Dambisa Felicia Moyo currently serves on the boards of Barclays Bank, the financial services group, Seagate Technology, Chevron Corporation, the global miner Barrick Gold and the 3M Company. She worked for two years at the World Bank and eight years at Goldman Sachs before becoming an author and international public speaker. She has written four New York Times bestselling books, with the most recent, “Edge of Chaos: Why Democracy Is Failing to Deliver Economic Growth – and How to Fix It,” published in 2018
Estela Marquez
BYU Multicultural Student Services
April 7, 2020 Devotional
Estela Marquez was born in a small village in Northern Guatemala but also lived in Costa Rica and Mexico before moving to the United States with her husband Israel more than 30 years ago. Marquez worked for the Provo School District as a school social worker before joining BYU's Multicultural Student Services office. She and her husband have seven children and 16 grandchildren.
