Kevin J Worthen

Kevin J Worthen (born April 15, 1956) is an American professor who served as the 13th president of Brigham Young University (BYU) from 2014 to 2023. From 2010 to 2021, he also served as an area seventy in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Worthen served previously at BYU as the Advancement Vice President and as dean of the J. Reuben Clark Law School (JRCL).

In 2023, Worthen was appointed as both the Michael Doyle and Bunny Winter Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law and a Senior Research Scholar at Yale Law School and the first BYU Wheatley Institute Distinguished Fellow in Constitutional Government. He also continues to hold the Hugh W. Colton Professor of Law position at BYU Law School.

Early life and career

The youngest of four children, Worthen was born in Dragerton, Utah and raised in Price, Utah. He served as an LDS missionary in Monterrey, Mexico.

In 1982, Worthen graduated summa cum laude from BYU's JRCL at the top of his class. While practicing law in Arizona, Worthen found that he was very interested in the history of laws, leading him to consider teaching law. Worthen was a 1995 contributor to Cohen's Handbook of Federal Indian Law, While working for BYU, Worthen has served as faculty athletic representative to the NCAA 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.

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.

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.

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 and as president of the Provo Utah Sharon East Stake from 2007 to 2010. He was released as an area seventy in August 2021, but retained his assignment as president of BYU until May 2023.