Todd A. Britsch (born 1937) is an emeritus professor of humanities and a former academic vice president at Brigham Young University (BYU).

Biography

Britsch was born in 1937, the year before his father Ralph Britsch joined the faculty at BYU in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County and is home to Brigham Young University (BYU). Provo lies between the ...

. After serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Switzerland and Austria, Todd Britsch graduated from BYU in 1962. While at BYU, Britsch met his wife, Dorothy Crofts, and they are the parents of two children. They were married in the

Bern Switzerland Temple The Bern Switzerland Temple (formerly the Swiss Temple) is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), was the church's first temple built in Europe, and the first built outside of North America.Toone, Trent"The Bern ...

. Dorothy Britsch died in 2003. After undergraduate work, Britsch did a Ph.D. in General Humanities at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

. Via ambition and labor, this did not take long; only four years after leaving as an undergraduate, Britsch was back as a member of the faculty at BYU in 1966. By the mid-1970s he was Director of the Department of Humanities within the College of Humanities where he taught the historical and artistic features of the Western Tradition from ancient Greece down to the 20th-century. His personal-professional style was characterized by discipline, clear insight, dry humor, and a flexible approach to problem-solving. His father held a faculty teaching position under him. During his time as Director a course in Asian humanities was added to broaden offerings beyond traditional western culture studies. Britsch served in an ecclesiastical leadership role as Branch President for

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

studying Korean and

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

at the

Missionary Training Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the early 1980s. From 1992 to 1996 Britsch served as BYU's academic vice president. A poem by Britsch was published in the '' Ensign''.Todd A. Britsch
"Belshazzar"
'' Ensign'', February 1976, p. 48.

Notes

References

''BYU Magazine'' article on Britsch and his brother Lanny

BYU faculty bio

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Britsch, Tod 1937 births People from Provo, Utah American Mormon missionaries in Austria Brigham Young University alumni Florida State University alumni Brigham Young University faculty Living people Latter Day Saints from Utah 20th-century Mormon missionaries American Mormon missionaries in Switzerland Latter Day Saints from Florida