Kevin J Worthen (born April 15, 1956) has been the

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...

president of

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

(BYU) since 2014. From 2010 to 2021, he also served as an

area seventy Seventy is a priesthood office in the Melchizedek priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Traditionally, a church member holding this priesthood office is a "traveling minister" and an "especial witness" of Je ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

(LDS Church). Worthen served previously at BYU as the Advancement Vice President and as

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the J. Reuben Clark Law School (JRCL).

Education and Law Experience

The youngest of four children, Worthen is a native of

Carbon County, Utah Carbon County is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 21,403. Its county seat and largest city is Price. The Price, UT Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Carbon County. Histo ...

born in Dragerton, Utah and raised in

Price, Utah Price is a city in the U.S. state of Utah and the county seat of Carbon County. The city is home to Utah State University Eastern, as well as the USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum. Price is located within short distances of both Nine Mile Canyon and ...

. He served as an

LDS missionary Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)—widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and communi ...

in Monterrey,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Worthen earned an associate degree from the

College of Eastern Utah Utah State University Eastern (USU Eastern) is a public regional college within the Utah State Universitybr>system The USU Eastern campus is located in Price, Utah, United States. Founded as Carbon College in 1937, the college joined the Universi ...

(CEU), where he was co-captain of the varsity basketball team and graduated co-valedictorian in 1978. While at CEU, Worthen worked summers as a coal miner. He graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in political science from BYU in 1979. In 1982, Worthen graduated summa cum laude from BYU's JRCL at the top of his class. He earned the distinction of

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, whi ...

. Following graduation, he clerked for Judge

Malcolm Wilkey Malcolm Richard Wilkey (December 6, 1918 – August 15, 2009) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and United States Ambassador to Uruguay. Early life and education Wilkey ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

for the

D.C. Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...

, and for Justice

Byron White Byron "Whizzer" Raymond White (June 8, 1917 April 15, 2002) was an American professional football player and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1962 until his retirement in 1993. Born and raised in Colo ...

of the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. He practiced law in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

from 1984 to 1987 with the law firm of Jennings, Strouss & Salmon. While practicing law in Arizona, Worthen found that he was very interested in the history of laws, leading him to consider teaching law.

JRCL faculty and BYU administration positions

In 1987, Worthen returned to BYU as a member of the JRCL's faculty and served as its dean from 2004 to 2008. As a Fulbright Scholar, he also spent a year working as a visiting instructor at University of Chile Law School in 1994. Worthen is an expert in American Indian law. His theory of cultural and ethnic assimilation draws on the history of indigenous groups and posits that since traditional "assimilation" is impossible, governments should work with indigenous groups as associational groups. Worthen was a 1995 contributor to ''Cohen's Handbook of Federal Indian Law'', and served as vice-chair of the Utah Constitution Revision Commission from 2001 to 2003. While working for BYU, Worthen has served as faculty athletic representative to the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

for four years and as chair of the University Athletic Advisory Council from 1992 to 2000. He has also been the Hugh W. Colton professor at BYU. Worthen has written articles on issues related to Native American law and marriage definition in law. He also wrote an article entitled ''The NCAA and Religion: Issues of non-state governance'' that was published in the ''Utah Law Review''. In June 2008, Worthen was appointed BYU's Advancement Vice President, with responsibility for university relations, communications, athletics, and philanthropies. In 2010 Worthen was made the chair of the membership review committee of the

Association of American Law Schools The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 176 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) n ...

BYU president

On March 11, 2014, Henry B. Eyring, First Vice Chairman of the BYU Board of Trustees, announced that effective May 1, 2014, Worthen would succeed Cecil O. Samuelson as the president of BYU. Worthen was officially inaugurated as BYU's 13th president September 9, 2014, in a special devotional assembly. Eyring gave the installation charge and spoke at the event. Other members of the board were also in attendance, along with former BYU presidents and presidents of other universities. In late 2016, Worthen was pressured by Air Force officials to make an exemption to the honor code so the person the Air Force chose could be placed as head of the ROTC division at BYU, but Worthen refused to budge from the code. In December 2017, Worthen announced a 10-year-deal that would give BYU students free ridership on the regional bus and commuter rail transit system. In the fall of 2017, as a follow up to remarks given by Worthen at the university conference in 2016, BYU created an office of experiential learning, to coordinate and increase internships, volunteer positions and other opportunities to apply learning and professionalize degrees.

Title IX regulations

In April 2016, Worthen announced the appointment of a BYU advisory committee to investigate how to improve handling alleged sexual assault situations involving students. In August, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights investigated the university. Based on the BYU committee's recommendations, BYU adopted policies that provided amnesty for honor code investigations for actions taken at or near the time women were sexually assaulted. Other changes included having the Title IX Office report directly to the student life vice president, and the physically separating the location of the two offices, relative to one another. The Title IX Office will include a full-time director.

Personal life

Worthen married Peggy Sealey Worthen in 1978 and they are the parents of three children and live in Provo, Utah. In April 2010, Worthen became an area seventy in the LDS Church. Worthen served previously in the church as a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

and as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the Provo Utah Sharon East Stake from 2007 to 2010.. He was released as an area seventy in August 2021, but continues in his role as president of BYU.Se
this article
for details of Worthen's release.

References