Skip to main content
Intellect

BYU Undergraduate Education has new appointees

Paul Kerry, associate professor of history, and Phillip Rash, associate clinical professor at the Counseling and Career Center, have accepted new appointments in the Office of Undergraduate Education at Brigham Young University effective July 1.

Kerry is serving in a new position as associate dean working with prestigious scholarships and programs, while Rash will serve as an assistant dean and will be responsible for the Freshman Mentoring Program.

“We express gratitude to Patricia Esplin, who recently completed an extended period of service in Undergraduate Education,” said John Bell, dean of Undergraduate Education. Esplin has been actively involved in initiatives for first-year students at BYU since 1996, serving as director of the Freshman Mentoring Program (formerly Freshman Academy).

“Under her guidance, Freshman Mentoring operated as a model peer-mentoring program with collaboration and support from colleges, academic departments, and student affairs and other stakeholders,” said Bell.  

Esplin is an internationally respected voice in the learning communities movement and in the development of undergraduate peer mentoring as a viable means of supporting students during their first year at BYU, increasing both retention and satisfaction. She has presented at numerous local, national and international conferences.

Kerry is a member of the European Studies faculty. His training spans several universities including Oxford, Harvard, and Chicago and his publications have engaged with European intellectual history, transatlantic ideas, and historiography.

A licensed psychologist, Rash has been manager of BYU's Career and Academic Success Center.

For more information, contact Undergraduate Education at 801-422-3037, ugrad@byu.edu.

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

Wildflowers not wildfires: How BYU and Provo City are helping to restore Rock Canyon Trailhead

July 10, 2025
At Rock Canyon Trailhead in Provo, Utah, BYU researchers are fighting fires with flowers. By replacing a problematic weed called cheatgrass with wildflowers, students and faculty are working to protect and restore one of Provo’s most popular hiking spots.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Wildfires in residential areas are on the rise; why hydrants and the water system behind them were never meant to stop those fires

July 01, 2025
BYU professor Rob Sowby teaches and studies environmental engineering, urban water infrastructure and sustainability. He has particular expertise in the planning, design, construction and operation of public water systems. That expertise has been increasingly important (and regularly sought out) in the wake of apocalyptic wildfires that have taxed those public water systems.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Meet the BYU math student helping make wildfire predictions faster and smarter

June 25, 2025
Using machine learning and math, a BYU student improved a key tool firefighters rely on during wildfire season
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=