Henry J. Eyring, currently serving as Academic Vice President, will become the seventeenth president of Brigham Young University-Idaho.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Church Board of Education, made the announcement today at BYU-Idaho's weekly devotional.
Henry J. Eyring replaces President Clark G. Gilbert, who has served as President of BYU-Idaho since 2015. President Eyring will assume his role as president effective April 10.
Earlier in the day President Gilbert was introduced as the new president of BYU-Pathway Worldwide. This new organization will have primary responsibility for the Pathway program and will coordinate other online degree programs across CES. President Gilbert will continue as President of BYU-Idaho through the end of this semester and will assume his responsibilities with the new organization shortly thereafter.
At the announcement, Elder Oaks praised President Eyring for his dedication and service to BYU-Idaho. "He is ideally suited to be the leader of this great institution, and I urge you to listen to his counsel, benefit from his direction, and give him your wholehearted support as you go forward to new heights of service in the work of the Lord," Elder Oaks said.
President Eyring has been uniquely prepared for this time, as he and his family have had long association with Rexburg and BYU-Idaho. He first came to the Upper Snake River Valley as a child in 1971, when his father, President Henry B. Eyring, served as president of Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho). As a boy in Rexburg, President Eyring attended elementary and junior high school. He and his family were in Rexburg to assist with the clean-up efforts following the Teton Dam disaster in 1976.
President Eyring earned degrees in Geology, Business Administration, and Law from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. While attending BYU, he married his high school sweetheart, Kelly Ann Child. They are the parents of five children: Emily, Henry Christian, Sarah, Spencer, and Matthew. Emily, Henry Christian, and Sarah are all graduates of BYU-Idaho, each being blessed and prepared for their futures by outstanding BYU-Idaho faculty and staff members.
The Eyrings returned to Rexburg in 2006 for President Eyring to work at BYU-Idaho. Over his eleven years at the university, he has served as Associate Academic Vice President over Online Learning, Advancement Vice President, and currently as Academic Vice President.
Previous to his work at BYU-Idaho, President Eyring worked as a strategy consultant at Monitor Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts and as MBA Director at BYU in Provo.
President Eyring served as Mission President in the Tokyo North Mission from 2003-2006 and as President of the Rexburg Idaho YSA 6th Stake from 2007-2012.
President Eyring has been a longtime friend of and maintains a close connection with President Gilbert. They were coworkers at Monitor Company in the 1990s; they served in same BYU-Idaho stake presidency; and, along with others, they collaborated on the creation of the Pathway program.
