Biology professor Rick Gill is the second BYU faculty to receive the honor
BYU biology professor Rick Gill bleeds blue. He’s the very definition of “all in.” In fact, you could say his heart and soul are forever connected to BYU and Cougar athletics.
In the early months of 2024, Gill was at a men’s basketball game when he experienced what he thought was the “worst heartburn and nausea ever.” He was actually suffering from a major heart attack and soon found himself in the emergency room at Utah Valley Regional Hospital.
“Our men’s basketball team losing an intensely close game literally broke my heart,” Gill recalled during a devotional he gave in July 2024. “I was doing something that I love to do more than just about anything — being with family, cheering on our Cougar basketball team.”
Eighteen months later, while recovering from a follow-up procedure in the hospital, Gill received a call from BYU Academic Vice President Justin Collings informing him that he was being awarded Big 12 Faculty of the Year.
Gill is one of 16 faculty — one from each Big 12 school — to receive the honor, awarded for innovation and research on each faculty member’s respective campuses. The awards were started in 2024, and Gill is BYU’s second honoree (following Charles Graham), which goes to dedicated faculty who “represent and reflect all the best attributes that make a college campus a bastion for learning and growth,” according to a Big 12 news release.
“It was a no-brainer,” said Senior Associate Athletic Director Trevor Wilson, who was one of many at BYU to nominate Gill. “He just exemplifies everything about the award. His research is well known, he’s a master teacher and he’s so student-centric.”
Much of Gill’s research and fieldwork is connected to the Polynesian community. Gill served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New Zealand, where he learned Samoan and developed a love for the culture and the people.
These connections opened doors for Gill and he started a journey of many years of research and humanitarian work connected to small-island states in the South Pacific, including heavy involvement in BYU’s Rheumatic Relief program and the Pasifika Alliance for Indigenous Research. He’s also formed connections with students from Polynesia, including several athletes and has served as a mentor to them in mentored research and classroom settings.
“There’s lots of other people who could have gotten this award, but to me, this is a recognition of the importance of our students being connected in meaningful ways with the campus culture and the experiential opportunities that exist across campus,” said Gill, who also serves as BYU's Dean of Undergraduate Education. “The Big 12 isn’t just about what happens on the playing field or on the court, but it’s also about what happens in the classroom.”
Wilson said Gill builds connection with and sees potential in all of his students, whether they're in the BYU Foundations of Student Success course (UNIV 101) he teaches, or in courses that are part of his discipline.
“It’s not just about athletes; Dr. Gill cares about all of his students, and he wants all of them to succeed,” he said. “His ability to relate to and care about students of all backgrounds — socioeconomic, ethnic, religious — is outstanding.”
With universal love, Gill sets a high bar and demands excellence from all of his students.
“God invites us to develop our talents,” he said. “To be of service in the world. Every student that's here is excellent, and what they've come to do is to be refined and to grow and to learn as they prepare for future careers, future families, and to be better servants and Disciples of Christ.”
Learn more about the University 101 course Professor Gill teaches:
