Every Tuesday at 11:05 a.m., students, faculty, staff and the greater BYU community tune in for the weekly devotional or forum address. Unless specifically marked below, the devotionals and forums will be held in the BYU Marriott Center.
Most devotionals and forums will be broadcast live on BYUtv, BYUtv.org (and archived for on-demand streaming), KBYU-TV 11, Classical 89 FM, BYU Radio and will be archived on speeches.byu.edu.
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.
Spring/Summer 2023 DEVOTIONAL AND FORUM SCHEDULE
May
- 9 – Brooke Robertson, Integrity and Compliance Office
- 16 – Melissa Larson, Marriott School of Business
- 23 – Justin Dyer, Religious Education
June
- 6 – Brent Webb, Distinguished Faculty Lecture (forum)
- 13 – Gus Hart, College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
- 27 – Chip Oscarson, Humanities and Undergraduate Education
July
- 11 – Barbara Morgan Gardner, Religious Education
- 18 – Pamela Brubaker, College of Fine Arts and Communications
- JSB Auditorium
- 25 – Benjamin Crookston, College of Life Sciences (forum)
- JSB Auditorium
August
- 1 – Kevin Utt, Honor Code Office
- 8 – Reid Neilson, Assistant Academic Vice President
- 22 – Elder Dale G. Renlund, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Education Week)
ABOUT THE Spring/Summer 2023 DEVOTIONAL AND FORUM SPEAKERS:
Brooke Robertson
May 9, Devotional
Brooke Ann Robertson works in BYU’s Integrity and Compliance Office as the policy manager and analyst, overseeing the university’s policy-making process. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from BYU, she worked in the offices of Senator Jon Kyl and the Republican Policy Committee in Washington, D.C. She returned to school at Utah State University, where she earned a master’s degree in English and taught undergraduate English courses. While there, she also served as a fellow for the journal Western American Literature. She developed kindergarten through 8th grade private school curricula prior to returning to the BYU community in 2011 to lead curriculum and class scheduling efforts in the Registrar’s Office.
Robertson loves reading, hiking, family history and temple work. She married Aaron Robertson in 2022 and gained six wonderful stepchildren.
Melissa Larson
May 16, Devotional
Melissa Larson is a teaching professor in the School of Accountancy at BYU Marriott School of Business. She graduated from BYU with a bachelor's and master's degree in accounting and started her career in public accounting, where she obtained her CPA license. In 2001, Melissa began teaching accounting classes at BYU and has taught various undergraduate and graduate accounting courses since then. She is passionate about inspiring students to engage in the learning process and pursued a doctorate degree from BYU in instructional psychology and technology. Her research interests include interventions to enhance student success in the classroom.
Larson is married to Greg Larson, who is also an alumnus of the BYU accounting program. They have four children and a daughter-in-law. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, being outdoors, reading and traveling. Although she doesn't enjoy running, she still engages in it regularly.
Justin Dyer
May 23, Devotional
W. Justin Dyer received his PhD in human and community development from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, after which he was a postdoctoral fellow at Auburn University. Following this, he joined the faculty in the BYU School of Family Life.
He became part of the Religious Education faculty in 2015 and teaches the Eternal Family course and statistics. His recent research examines how faith, family and mental health influence each other from adolescence into young adulthood. He also examines how sexual orientation and gender identity influence these processes.
Brent Webb
June 6, Forum
Brent W. Webb attended BYU, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1981 and a master’s in 1982 in mechanical engineering. From there, he went to Purdue University to pursue a doctorate. In 1986, he returned to BYU to join the mechanical engineering faculty. His research focuses on heat transfer and thermodynamics.
He has been awarded many prestigious honors from within and outside the university. He has served as the Executive Director of the BYU Office of Research and Creative Activities, the Associate Academic Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, and served as the university’s Academic Vice President from 2011 to 2017. He is married to Amy Jo Barker, and they have six children.
Gus Hart
June 13, Devotional
Gus Hart holds bachelor’s degrees in physics and Japanese from BYU. In 1999, he received a PhD in condensed matter physics from the University of California, Davis and then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. After five years on the faculty at Northern Arizona University, he returned to BYU as a faculty member in 2006. Last year he switched research fields and now studies fundamental biophysical processes in cells, primarily bacteria.
Hart married Cynthia Christensen, whom he met at BYU in 1990. They have five children and two grandchildren. On his lunch hour, Hart loves to play handball with students and fellow faculty.
Chip Oscarson
June 27, Devotional
Chip Oscarson graduated from BYU with a bachelor’s in history and a master’s in comparative literature. He earned a doctorate degree from the University of California at Berkeley. Oscarson joined the BYU faculty in 2005 as director of the Scandinavian program in the College of Humanities. He has been the associate director for the Center for the Study of Europe in the Kennedy Center and director of the International Cinema program and currently serves as an associate dean in Undergraduate Education.
Born in St. Louis, Oscarson’s family moved to Sweden when he was young. His family came back to the United States where Oscarson graduated from high school. He later returned to Sweden to serve as a full-time missionary. He and his wife Marie-Laure are the parents of four children.
Barbara Morgan Gardner
July 11, Devotional
Barbara Morgan Gardner holds a doctoral degree in instructional psychology and a master’s degree in educational leadership and foundations. She currently teaches the Doctrine and Covenants, The Eternal Family, and Teachings of the Living Prophets at BYU. Gardner is the author of the book “The Priesthood Power of Women in the Temple, Church, and Family.”
Before teaching at BYU, she worked as a seminary and institute teacher as well as a researcher for the Church Educational System. Gardner is married to Dustin Gardner and they are the parents of two children.
Pamela Brubaker
July 18, Devotional
Pamela Jo Brubaker is an associate professor of communications. She received both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from BYU in mass communications and holds a doctorate degree from The Pennsylvania State University. Her research in digital media has led to a greater understanding of the impact communications has on individuals, organizations and society. Her expertise includes public relations research, social media, digital storytelling, media relations and strategic communications. She currently serves as associate director for graduate studies in the School of Communications.
Outside of work, Brubaker enjoys going on adventures with her husband, creating memories with family and friends, hanging out with her beloved chickens and indulging in her love for chocolate.
Benjamin Crookston
July 25, Forum
Benjamin Crookston is a professor of public health and associate dean in the College of Life Sciences. He earned a bachelor's degree in zoology and a master's degree in public health at BYU and a doctorate degree in public health from the University of Utah. Prior to joining BYU he was on faculty in the School of Medicine at the University of Utah.
Crookston has spent nearly two decades conducting research in Asia, Africa and Latin America on maternal and child health, nutrition, food security and poverty alleviation initiatives.
Kevin Utt
August 1, Devotional
Kevin Utt has served as the director of the Honor Code Office since January 2019. He earned a master’s degree in higher education and student affairs administration from Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree from Hanover College.
Prior to his arrival to BYU in 2018, he worked in the administration in various universities across the Midwest. Utt and his wife, Tobiaire, have been married 19 years and they have four children.
Reid Neilson
August 8, Devotional
In 2022, Reid Neilson was named assistant academic vice president for religious scholarly publications at BYU. Prior to working at BYU, Neilson was assistant Church historian and recorder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also worked as the managing director for the Church History Department from 2010 to 2019. During these years he served on the editorial boards of the Deseret Book Company, the Joseph Smith Papers and the Church Historian’s Press. In 2006, Neilson began his academic career as an assistant professor of Church history and doctrine in Religious Education at BYU, where he received the university’s Young Scholar Award. He is the author and award-winning editor of more than 30 books.
A native of Orange County, California, Neilson received a bachelor’s degree (international relations) and two master’s degrees (business management and American history) from BYU and holds a doctorate in religious studies (American religions) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He later completed the Harvard Business School’s General Management Program. He and his wife, Shelly, have five children.
Elder Dale G. Renlund
August 22, Devotional
Elder Dale G. Renlund was named to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on October 3, 2015. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Medicine degrees from the University of Utah, Elder Renlund received further medical and research training at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was a professor of medicine at the University of Utah and the medical director of the Utah Transplantation Affiliated Hospitals Cardiac Transplant Program.
Elder Renlund was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in November 1952. He married Ruth Lybbert in 1977. They are the parents of one daughter.
