Every Tuesday at 11:05 a.m., students, faculty, staff and the greater BYU community gathers for the weekly Devotional or Forum address. Speakers consist of BYU professors, members of the leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a range of industry leaders and political figures.
During the Spring and Summer terms, Devotionals and Forums are held in the de Jong Concert Hall of the Harris Fine Arts Center. This summer, the three Devotionals held on June 21, June 28 and July 12, will be in the Joseph Smith Building Auditorium. The August 16 Education Week Devotional will be held in the Marriott Center.
Devotional and Forums are open to the public and most are 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.
Spring/Summer 2016 Devotional and Forum Schedule
May
- May 3: Stephen Liddle, Kevin and Debra Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (Devotional)
- May 10: Rebecca Schroeder, Harold B. Lee Library (Devotional)
- May 17: Larry Howell, Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology, (Forum, Distinguished Faculty Award Lecture)
- May 24: Blake Peterson, College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (Devotional)
- May 31: Sarah Coyne, School of Family Life (Devotional)
June
- June 7: Alan Harker, Associate Academic Vice President (Devotional)
- June 21: Michelle Stott James, College of Humanities (Devotional, JSB Auditorium)
- June 28: Tim McLain, Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology (Devotional, JSB Auditorium)
July
- July 12: Michael Goodman, Department of Church History and Doctrine (Devotional, JSB Auditorium)
- July 19: Keoni Kauwe, College of Life Sciences (Forum)
- July 26: Wade Hollingshaus, College of Fine Arts and Communications (Devotional)
August
- August 2: David Moore, J. Reuben Clark Law School (Devotional)
- August 16: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (Education Week Week Devotional)
About the Spring/Summer 2016 Devotional and Forum Speakers
Stephen W. Liddle
Academic Director, Kevin and Debra Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology
May 3, 2016 Devotional
Stephen Liddle is the academic director of the Kevin and Debra Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at BYU and professor of Information Systems at the Marriott School of Management, where he holds the J Owen Cherrington Professorship. Liddle teaches mobile app development, web development, systems design and other topics related to the practical application of computer systems and conceptual modeling.
Liddle has been a member of BYU’s business school faculty since 1995, when he received his PhD in Computer Science from BYU. His research interests include conceptual modeling, software engineering environments and tools, data extraction, information retrieval, multi-paradigm software development environments and tools and e-business. He is particularly interested in mobile application development and applications of conceptual modeling. His work has appeared in a number of respected journals and conferences.
In addition to authoring or co-authoring more than 60 refereed academic papers, Liddle is editor of numerous conference and workshop proceedings, and is co-author of the book E-Business: Principles and Strategies for Accountants. Liddle has organized or helped organize numerous conferences and workshops, generally in the conceptual modeling space. He is a member of several advisory boards for tech startups in Utah, and he has participated in several tech startups over the years. Liddle has been a prolific software developer since age 14, so he is fluent in many different programming languages. He is the technical developer of the LDS Scripture Citation Index (scriptures.byu.edu).
Rebecca Schroeder
Material Acquisitions Department Chair, Harold B. Lee Library
May 10, 2016 Devotional
Rebecca Schroeder is the acquisitions librarian and department chair of the Material Acquisitions Department in the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU.
She came to BYU in 2000, working first in various library acquisition positions before becoming faculty in 2006. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Piano Performance from Lock Haven University, a Master of Arts in Music Theory and History from Pennsylvania State University, and a Master of Library Science from the University of North Texas. Her research primarily focuses on electronic books and emerging library acquisition models.
Larry Howell
Mechanical Engineering Professor, Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology
May 17, 2016 Forum
Larry L. Howell is a mechanical engineering professor in the BYU Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology. His research focuses on compliant mechanisms including origami-inspired mechanisms, microelectromechanical systems, medical devices and space mechanisms. Howell has also conducted research in lamina emergent mechanisms and nanoinjection.
Howell joined the BYU faculty in 1994, and served as chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 2001 to 2007. Prior to joining BYU, he was a visiting professor at Purdue University; an engineer on the design of the YF-22, the first prototype of the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor; and a finite-element analyst for Engineering Methods, Inc.
Howell received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from BYU and a master's and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University. His patents and technical publications focus on compliant mechanisms, and his research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, NASA and the Department of Defense. He is the author of the book Compliant Mechanisms.
Howell is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the past chair of the ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Committee and a past associate editor for the Journal of Mechanical Design. His research has been recognized with a BYU Maeser Research Award, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, a Theodore von Kármán Fellowship, a ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Award, the 2015 "Vizzies" Overall People's Choice Award and an ASME Machine Design Award.
Blake Peterson
Mathematics Education Department Chair, College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
May 24, 2016 Devotional
Blake Peterson is the current chair of the Department of Mathematics Education in the BYU College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.
After completing his bachelor of arts degree in secondary mathematics education at Utah State University he taught and coached at Chino High School in California. He completed his master's and Ph.D. in mathematics at Washington State University after which he taught at Oregon State University before coming to Brigham Young University in 1996.
Peterson enjoys teaching and was recognized for those efforts in 2015 when he received an award for Excellence in Teaching in Mathematics Teacher Education from the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. His research interests are also centered on teaching where he focuses on how teachers learn to productively use student thinking during instruction.
Sarah Coyne
Associate Professor of Human Development, School of Family Life, BYU College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences
May 31, 2016 Devotional
Sarah Coyne is an associate professor of human development in the School of Family Life in the BYU College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences. She received her bachelor's degree in psychology from Utah State University, and her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, England.
Her research interests involve media, aggression, gender and child development. Coyne has over 60 publications on these and other topics. She recently completed a study examining the effects of media stereotypes on preschool children.
Alan Harker
Associate Academic Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, BYU
June 7, 2016 Devotional
Alan R. Harker is the associate academic vice president for research and Graduate Studies at BYU. At BYU, he has been part of the faculty of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology for almost 22 years, serving as department chair and as an associate dean of the College of Life Sciences. Before moving to BYU, Harker was an associate professor at Oklahoma State University in the Department of Microbiology.
Harker received his Ph.D. from the University of Utah in biology after receiving bachelor of science degrees in chemistry and biology from the same institution. He completed his education as a postdoctoral fellow in the Nitrogen Fixation Laboratory at Oregon State University and a research associate with the Environmental Protection Agency in Corvallis, Oregon.
Michelle Stott James
German and Russian Department Chair, BYU College of Humanities
June 21, 2016 Devotional
Michelle Stott James is the department chair of German and Russian in the BYU College of Humanities. Since joining the BYU faculty in 1988, she has taught numerous courses in literature, writing and critical theory. James served for several years as the German section head, and as chair of the Department of German and Russian since 2010.
After the publication of her first book, Behind the Mask: Kierkegaard’s Pseudonymic Treatment of Lessing in the “Concluding Unscientific Postscript, James turned her research interests to early German-language women writers. With her colleague Joseph O. Baker, she founded the Sophie Project, with the goal of collecting hard-to-access texts by early women authors and making them available in modern format. Over the past 15 years, with the help of generous funding from the BYU ORCA Office, the College of Humanities and the Women’s Research Institute, this undertaking has developed into the Sophie Mentored Research Project, which has engaged numerous students in textual preparation, editing and research on over 2,000 early women’s texts and musical compositions, which are now freely available to users in the Sophie Digital Library of Early German-Language Women’s Work. She and her students are currently preparing the Critically Annotated Collected Works of Elisa von der Recke, the first volume of which is nearing completion.
James has a Ph.D. in German literature with a minor in philosophy from the University of Utah. She earned a bachelor's degree in music from Weber State College.
Tim McLain
Mechanical Engineering Professor, Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology, BYU
June 28, 2016 Devotional
Tim McLain has been a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department in the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology at BYU since 1995.
For the past 17 years, he has been involved in the guidance and control of unmanned aircraft. Currently, he is the director of the NSF-sponsored Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, which in partnership with the University of Colorado and Virginia Tech, performs industry-sponsored research related to unmanned aircraft systems.
While completing his Ph.D. work at Stanford University, McLain worked with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute on the control of underwater robotic vehicles. After completing his master of science degree at BYU, he worked for two years with Sarcos, Inc., in Salt Lake City, on the design, modeling and control of fluid-power systems for robotics applications.
During the summers of 1999 and 2000, McLain was a visiting scientist at the Air Force Research Laboratory where he initiated research in the cooperative control of unmanned aircraft systems.
Michael Goodman
Church History Professor, Department of Church History and Doctrine
July 12, 2016 Devotional
Michael Goodman is a Church History professor in the Department of Church History and Doctrine. His research focuses on marriage and family, LDS doctrine and missionary work and the international church.
Goodman has served two LDS missions to Bangkok Thailand: one a year after joining the church at the age of 18 and the other as a mission president. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism/public relations, a master’s degree in information technology and a Ph.D. in marriage, family and human development.
Goodman has worked for the Church Educational System since 1989. He taught seminary and institute for nine years in Oregon. After completing his doctorate, he became the manager of the Church Educational System’s College Curriculum for three years. Goodman has since taught eight different courses in both the Church History and Doctrine and Ancient Scriptures departments at BYU.
Keoni Kauwe
Associate Professor of Biology, BYU College of Life Sciences
July 19, 2016 Forum
Keoni Kauwe is an associate professor of Biology in the BYU College of Life Sciences and coordinator of the Bioinformatics program at BYU. He specializes in processing and analysis of genetic data and has published over 80-peer reviewed papers.
His research leverages novel phenotypes and approaches to characterize the genetic architecture of Alzheimer’s disease. Kauwe's research in the lab also includes comparative genomics to address evolutionary questions in several species of fish and reptiles. Kauwe currently serves as the scientific lead for the SAGE AD Challenge and as a senior editor for Alzheimer’s and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.
Kauwe is the recipient of several awards, including the Poletsky Award, the New Vision Award and the McMillian Award for his work in Alzheimer’s disease.
Wade Hollingshaus
Theatre and Media Arts Department Chair, College of Fine Arts and Communications
July 26, 2016 Devotional
Wade Hollingshaus is the current chair of the Theatre and Media Arts (TMA) Department in the College of Fine Arts and Communications.
Hollingshaus is an associate professor in the TMA critical studies faculty, is head of dramaturgy studies and is an affiliated faculty with BYU's Scandinavian studies program.
He is a member of the Performance Philosophy research network and currently serves as American Society for Theatre Research's liaison with the Theatre Library Association. His primary research interests center on rock performance and culture in the 1960’s and 1970’s. He is also interested in Finnish and Scandinavian theatre and film.
In 2015, Hollingshaus was awarded the BYU Alcuin Fellowship, which recognizes outstanding teacher-scholars whose work at the university transcends the limits of their disciplines, and who have made significant contributions to the general education and honors curriculums.
David Moore
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Research, J. Reuben Clark Law School
August 2, 2016 Devotional
David Moore is the associate dean of academic affairs and research at the J. Reuben Clark Law School.
Moore is a summa cum laude graduate of Brigham Young University Law School. He also received at Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University.
After joining the BYU law faculty in 2008, Moore taught as a visiting professor at the George Washington University Law School. Moore has also been associate professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law. He arrived at the University of Kentucky after researching and teaching at the University of Chicago Law School as an Olin Fellow.
Moore is a scholar of U.S. foreign relations law, international law, international development and international human rights. His publications have been accepted for publication in the Harvard, Columbia, Virginia and Northwestern Law Reviews, among others. Moore has taught civil procedure, international law, U.S. foreign relations law, international human rights, legal scholarship and a Plenary Powers Colloquium.
Jeffrey R. Holland
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
August 16, 2016 Education Week Devotional
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on June 23, 1994. At the time of this call, Elder Holland was serving as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, to which he had been called on April 1, 1989.
From 1980 until his call as a General Authority in 1989, Elder Holland served as the ninth president of BYU. He is a former Church commissioner of education and dean of the College of Religious Education at BYU.
A student leader and varsity athlete at Dixie High School and Dixie College in his native St. George, Utah, he received his bachelor's and master's degrees in English and religious education, respectively, from Brigham Young University. He obtained master and doctor of philosophy degrees in American Studies from Yale University.
Elder Holland was active in professional educational activity prior to his call to full-time Church service. He served as president of the American Association of Presidents of Independent Colleges and Universities (AAPICU), on the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), and as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Presidents Commission. For his work in improving understanding between Christians and Jews, he was awarded the "Torch of Liberty" award by the Anti-Defamation League of B'Nai B'rith. He has served on the governing boards of a number of civic and business related corporations and has received the Distinguished Eagle Scout award from the Boy Scouts of America. He is the author of eight books, one of which he co-authored with his wife, Patricia.
