Going Forth: Meet alumni enriching their communities through service

Going Forth: Meet alumni enriching their communities through service

Going Forth: Meet alumni enriching their communities through service

Recipient of a BYU Honored Alumni Award, a former athlete and communications star has been chasing dreams her whole life.

2011 University Award Winner, Young Alumni Distinguished Service Award

2016 Alumni Achievement Award Winner, BYU Marriott School of Business 

2018 Alumni Achievement Award Winner, BYU College of Life Sciences

2012 University Award Winner, Distinguished Service Award

2019-2020 Fulbright Research Scholarship Recipient 

2016 Alumni Achievement Award Winner, BYU College of Life Sciences 

2013 Alumni Achievement Award Winner, Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology 

2016 Utah Region Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award Winner

2019 University Award Winner-Honorary Alumni Award

“Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead—a lot of it—30 years of it now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.”—Jeffrey R. Holland

“A positive attitude is everything. I’m not saying I don’t have sad days; we all do. But I feel that my incentive is my kids and my husband. I have to be positive for my family, so I can’t really be down and out.”

2016 Alumni Achievement Award Winner, J. Reuben Clark Law School

2016 Alumni Achievement Award Winner, College of Nursing

A family vision board has helped Steve and Merissa Hunt show their kids the world, and help people too!

2018 Alumni Achievment Award Winner, College of Fine Arts and Communications

District of Oregon chief judge Michael W. Mosman shares his academic and professional experiences, as well as lessons he's learned along the way. 

“If I set [a] goal, that goal is something that sticks with me until I accomplish it, and it sticks with me every single day at practice. Not just this week, or next month, every single day.”

2015 University Award winners, Distinguished Service Award

2017 University Award winners, Emeriti Distinguished Service Award

2017 University Award winner, Distinguished Service Award

2017 University Award winner, Emeriti Distinguished Service Award

Jerry (BS '63) and Karen Browning make waves with an idea for swimwear nobody had ever seen before. 

2018 Alumni Achievement Award Winner, College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Whether it's catching an eighty-pound king salmon, or breaking the Christian music charts, singer-songwriter and BYU alumna Hilary Weeks can't be stopped. 

"There is a way to balance it. There is." Miriam Allred (BS ’12, Chapman. JD ’15, BYU) never turned back on family, even in the rigors of academia.

2017 University Award winner, Distinguished Service

2017 Alumni Achievement Award winner, J. Reuben Clark Law School

2017 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Life Sciences

“The first time I remember playing golf was with Jim [my older brother] when I was about eight years old . . ." Find out how the lessons David Terry (BS '90) learned on the golf course changed his life.

"See life as a mission, not a career." Check out how Joseph Grenny influences lives on a micro and macro level.

2017 Alumni Achievement Award winner, David O. McKay School of Education

2015 Alumni Achievement Award winner, David O. McKay School of Education

2017 University Award Winner, Young Alumni Distinguished Award

Even after Zach Owen (BS ‘99) found out he had stage IV cancer, he knew it wasn’t his time to go. “I think everyone else thought I was going to die,” Owen said, “[But] I had a strong confirmation that I hadn’t learned what I needed to learn.”

2017 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Nursing

Even in the face of adversity, Camille Hammond has never lost the spirit of hope and perserverance she gained at BYU.

For Stephanie Jensen Bills, a BYU nursing grad and mother of three young daughters, a necklace, photo, and handkerchief from her BYU days remind her of what matters most, and point her and her children towards love and service.

Brian Ricks' desultory path to giving to BYU became a transformational experience. 

Learn about one Replenishment Grant recipient's journey from a childhood in poverty to preparing to graduate from BYU.

We often focus on seminal moments of past alumnus BYU experiences, but Eliza Schade shares a series of funny, but often relatable, stories of life at BYU.

Brett Palmer has been setting life goals since he was nine. See how he's set about accomplishing goals that were over a decade in the making.

At age 26, Brittany Brown found herself a single mother with three young kids and very little professional experience. Now, she's a successful CEO. See how she navigated the unique struggles that come when balancing college with singlehandedly raising a family.

From Homeland security to emergency management, see how Vance Taylor has advocated for better ways to help those with disabilities.

“Rather than ask ‘why me?’ I asked ‘why not me?'" Ottley explains, "What made me so special that I should go through life free of these kinds of tribulations?” 

“If you had told me in high school that I would grow up to be an addiction recovery therapist, I probably would have panicked and run away."

2017 Alumni Achievement Award winner, David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies

From struggling elementary school student to successful college graduate, Melissa McDonald discusses the challenges of navigating school with a learning disability. 

Through trials and challenges, hard work and diverse interests help Robert Safsten stay grounded as he glides toward his degree.

When you leave your PhD program to start a family, do you ever go back?

"Every person is going to have difficult circumstances happen in their lives, but it’s your choice how you’re going to react and how you’re going to move on."

In describing Kevin J Worthen, 13th president of Brigham Young University, friends and colleagues use a variety of descriptors, some of them seemingly contradictory: brilliant yet unassuming, physically towering yet down-to-earth, visionary yet deferential. But when asked to introduce himself at the press conference following the March 2014 announcement of his new position, Worthen kept it simple: "I'm a BYU guy through and through."

Rex E. Lee was named the 10th president of Brigham Young University on May 12, 1989, effective July 1, 1989, and stepped down on December 31, 1995, due to health reasons. He passed away on March 11, 1996.

Before being named president of BYU, Rex Lee was a partner in the law firm of Sidley & Austin. He joined the firm June 1, 1985, after having served for four years as solicitor general of the United States.

When Jeffrey R. Holland took the helm of BYU, he did so with two principal goals in mind. He wanted to increase significantly BYU's academic vitality and accomplishments, while strengthening and emphasizing its unique religious nature. In an April 1987 issue of BYU Today, Holland said, "I want BYU to be known for its academic achievements, achievements reached in an environment of faith and high ideals." Holland has become well known for his commitment to moral education and for proclaiming BYU as a unique university inextricably linked with its religious heritage.

President Dallin H. Oaks left his imprint on the University. He continued the building program of his predecessor with the enlargement of the bookstore, construction of the Law School (authorized during the Wilkinson Administration), and erection of a new library addition equal in size to the original structure. He also witnessed the construction by the Church of the Language Training Mission near the University and announced a drive for funds to construct a large graduate school of management.

With the foundation laid by his six predecessors, coupled with the growth of the Church, improved economic conditions, and the unusual support of President David O. McKay and the Board of Trustees, Ernest L. Wilkinson made his contribution by building, in terms of full-time students, the nation's largest private university.

Read more at BYU’s Office of the President.

Standing on the campus where as a country boy from Benjamin, Utah, he had dreamed of the future, President Franklin Stewart Harris said on Founder's Day 1923, "Behold the greatest university campus in all the world - in embryo. More students will come, the faculty will be enlarged, new colleges will be added, and there is no end to the improvements which can be made. Truly the campus is the setting of what will undoubtedly be the greatest university in the world, a place to train for leaders."

Alumni who attended Brigham Young University between 1904 and 1921 were often heard to say, "I attended the Y in the good old Brimhall days." This was intended as a compliment to the spirit and personality of George H. Brimhall, for he breathed into the school a special charisma which people never forgot. He was particularly known for his short, pithy talks at devotionals. Ezra Taft Benson has written "No man has so inspired me with so few spoken words as has President Brimhall in his famous four-minute assembly talks."

On 4 January 1892 when the new Academy Building was dedicated, the principalship of the Academy formally passed from Karl G. Maeser to Benjamin Cluff, Jr. It was a memorable occasion and 1,000 people were estimated to have gathered for the ceremonies. But when the dedicatory services for the Academy Building were over and while the tributes to "Brother Maeser" were still ringing in the new principal's ears, Benjamin Cluff, Jr., turned his attention to the stern realities of his new position.

Read more at BYU’s Office of the President.

Under Karl G. Maeser Brigham Young Academy established itself as one of the leading schools in Utah territory. The curriculum continually expanded to meet the ever-changing and ever-increasing needs of local and regional education. But the uniqueness of the school lay not in its academic emphasis but in its religious foundation. Maeser placed the development of character above the development of intellect.

Formerly a computer software engineer, Aitken merged his love for technology with his passion for poetry in 2004 when he left his job in the computer gaming industry to earn a MFA in creative writing from University of California-Riverside.  Although the drastic change in career may seem abrupt, Aitken had balanced his multiple interests for years, and this career shift finally aligned Aitken’s competing interests. 

She never had a voice lesson, although the talent was clearly there. She had only two years of formal piano training, although her innate musical abilities were evident as a child. And she never took a production class, but she became legendary at BYU for larger-than-life shows.

Mary Bee Jensen, founder of BYU’s world-renowned International Folk Dance Ensemble, may now stand at the brink of 100 years old, but there is nothing teetering about her. “I drive my own car, live in my own home, and maintain a Facebook page,” says the self-described firecracker, whom everyone knows simply as Mary Bee. “I have great luncheon dates with my dancers, dote on nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, and continue to move full speed ahead.”

By profession, Emily de Schweinitz Taylor (BA ’97) is a mediator; by her calling as a mother of five children, she is an expert in conflict. She has combined these backgrounds in her book, Raising Mediators: How Smart Parents Use Mediation to Transform Sibling Conflict and Empower Their Children.

Eric E. Rasmussen (BA ’02, MA ’04) should have seen it coming. As a professor at Texas Tech, Rasmussen researches media’s impact on children. Even so, the father of four energetic girls wasn’t prepared for the transformation that came over one daughter when she turned 13 and got her first cell phone. “Our world turned upside down,” he recalls. When she wasn’t texting, calling, playing games, watching YouTube, or scrolling, she often grew restless and irritable.

In the dead of an August night, Kurt F. Dickson (BS ’89) stood alone on the beach in Samphire Hoe, England, wearing just a Speedo and a BYU swim cap. As a spotlight from a boat offshore illuminated his body, Dickson raised his arm, and a horn blared in return. On that cue the 50-year-old former BYU swim team captain plunged into the bitter cold water to start his journey across the English Channel.

The children arrive broken and hardened, some never having been able to trust an adult before. Many do drugs or cut themselves or sneak out at night. And yet, over more than 40 years, Don and Jann Wendelboe Smith (BS ’72) have provided a home to some 150 foster children in need of love and safety.

“Wouldn’t it be neat if every business in America closed its doors for one day and took its employees out and did service somewhere? What a different world it would be.”

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.  

Even though Sarah Hartsfield suffers from a neurodegenerative condition that can lead to muscle spasms, vision and hearing impairment, she has earned degrees in print journalism and public administration. While she suffers from depression, opportunities to serve are a lifeline, a reminder of all she has yet to offer.

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.  

For the Dobsons, FHE extends beyond their immediate family.

Thomas Worsley is passionate about feeding people. Among other efforts, he serves on the board of Feeding South Dakota, a hunger-relief organization serving the poorest county in the nation, and works with local food growers in a farm-to-table initiative. “Your job is not just to live, work, go to church, and die,” he says. “You really need to leave a mark . . . by getting involved and being a positive voice and influence.”

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.  

With a little creativity, Dixon, a geography professor at Rhode Island College, believes you can find opportunities to add a service component to any activity, especially to a career: “There isn’t a defined division between service in your profession and service in the kingdom. Sometimes they really blend together.”

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.

They say many hands make light work, but the proverb breaks down when you are Kip Alder and the hands happen to be those of your eight children. “Whenever [the kids] ‘help,’ it takes longer, it’s not as convenient,” acknowledges Alder. “But it is very fulfilling.”

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.  

The hangar doors opened, and, to the exuberant cheers of spouses and children, parents and friends, a battalion of soldiers marched in. The hangar erupted into joyous chaos as soldiers and their families ran to each other to embrace, kiss, laugh and cry. April Hopkins, camera in hand, captured every second of it for one family.

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.  

As a mechanical engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Thomas Mason explores ways to protect the lives of U.S. soldiers, from developing less-sensitive explosives that won’t detonate from a roadside bomb to improving armor for military vehicles.

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.

When disaster strikes, the people of Fayetteville know whom to call: their dentist. After a tornado ripped through the town six years ago, the community saw Joseph Catlett swap his scrubs and dentist’s drill for work jeans and a shovel.

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.  

2004 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Jason Bodily calls it “pay a penny for a buck” service—minimal efforts that can make a big difference, like visiting someone in prison. Bodily, a microbiology professor, does this monthly, visiting a homeless man who lived in his ward boundaries before being incarcerated. Another ward member had started making the visits, but when that member moved, Bodily, on his second stint as bishop in 10 years, didn’t want to delegate. “I enjoy it,” he says. “You can give someone so much pleasure by doing so little.”

To hear Verleen Toland tell the story, you’d think she had nothing to do with it. Each lunch hour at the Idaho school where she taught, Toland noticed the same thing: her friend, an aide, had the same meager meal each day—a glass of milk, half a sandwich from home, maybe one item from the cafeteria. A few questions later, Toland learned that the woman was saving every dime, nickel, and penny to support a family member through a struggle. So Toland decided to begin splitting a full cafeteria lunch with her friend.

“Is this some kind of a cruel joke?” asked the woman on the other end of the line. Bryce Willis sighed and explained again. Willis had called the inner-city high school records office to obtain a transcript for Jerrod, a young man from his stake then on a mission in England. Jerrod, he explained, hoped to attend BYU in Utah. The school counselor insisted that a school like BYU wasn’t likely to be interested in a kid from her school, which serves students in the Birmingham housing projects. But Willis persisted, and he drove the 20 miles to hand her $35 for the transcript.

For Tait Eyre (BS ’94), the stake president of the Irvine California stake, the chance to serve the Shir-Ha-Ma’a Lot Jewish Congregation was an opportunity born of simple logistics: In 2016 the SHM Congregation couldn’t find a suitable temporary place of worship while their synagogue was being renovated; the Irvine Stake Center was used for worship on Sundays but was vacant on Fridays, the Jewish day of worship. President Eyre offered the use of the building to the SHM and they gratefully accepted. In time, this act of service became a blessing to both the LDS and Jewish communities.

It was a full-scale meltdown—the child wailing, flailing, and assailing her frazzled mother in the Gilbert, Arizona, park. Watching on quietly, Fatima Dedrickson didn’t know the woman, but she knew enough. As a mother of three, she’d tasted this particular blend of embarrassment, weariness, and desperation before. And so Dedrickson walked up to the stranger mid-squall and declared, “I admire you. You’re a great mom. All of us struggle sometimes. Don’t beat yourself up.” And with that, the mother joined her child in tears—of a happier sort.

“What should you do in the event of a fire?” When Bangladeshi garment workers were asked this question, many said they’d open a window and take cover under their work station.

Due to poor safety standards and training, during a two-year period 1,247 Bangladeshi workers died in factory fires and a building collapse while creating apparel for companies. Jay Jorgensen, Walmart’s chief global ethics and compliance officer, knew he was in a position to help change this.

Read Jorgensen’s full story at BYU Magazine.

“Your hardest [kids], . . . they’re the ones who stay with you,” says Maralee Powell, a K–5 special-ed teacher who works with troubled children. She tells of one particular student who, “to a degree, . . . felt like a really bad kid.” But where some see only volatile behavior, Powell listens to the stories, tales of crushing home lives, struggle, and trauma. 

Read Powell’s full story at BYU Magazine.

Scott Strobel is drawn to his unlikely scholars—the ones with passion but no pedigree. The deputy provost of Yale University’s Center for Teaching and Learning and vice president of Yale’s West Campus research center, Strobel remembers one student from New Jersey. He came from a humble background, but the young man dreamed of being a scientist. Strobel’s class Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory—which included a trip to South America to collect biological samples—ignited the student’s passion.

It is clear that Ruth Yeboah is from out of town when she hands a teenage waitress 50 Ghanaian cedis (about $12). In Ghana people generally don’t tip. But Yeboah, who grew up in the United States as the daughter of a Ghanaian and an Ivorian, understands that the girl is waiting tables rather than reading textbooks because of the prohibitive cost of an education—anywhere from $100 to $200 per year. With the money comes another tip from Yeboah: “Education is freedom.”

Read Yeboah’s full story at BYU Magazine.

It’s 1:30 a.m., and the phone on the nightstand starts to buzz. Someone needs to talk with Justin—again. Did a player break up with his girlfriend? Or is someone just having trouble sleeping? It’s not in Justin Su’a’s contract to take these early-morning phone calls, but he does it anyway. A former BYU baseball pitcher, Su’a now works as a mental-performance coach for the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Browns. Instead of requiring players to meet with him during his regular office hours, Su’a makes himself available whenever they need him.

If a baby with Down syndrome comes to your family, you might just receive a book from Stephanie Meredith, who provides materials and support for new and expectant parents nationwide. “It’s fun for me to support moms through books,” says Meredith, “but it’s also fun for them to learn about my son Andy as we become friends online.” Overwhelmed and uncertain, these parents have questions: What health concerns will she have? Will he make friends? Can she live a meaningful life?

The iPad sits precariously atop a tower composed of a cake stand, a tub of candy canes, and a cookbook on a kitchen counter. At the other end of the room Marcus Martins stands in a suit, bleary eyed, behind a lectern set on his table. It’s 2 a.m. and, via Skype, Martins is delivering a lecture on being a modern-day pioneer to a crowd packed into a Mongolian church building more than 5,500 miles away.

Martins regularly delivers long-distance lectures and firesides on religion and leadership, the same topics he teaches as a BYU–Hawaii professor.

It might sound cliché, says Pace, but motherhood has been her most meaningful service—when “I feel I am doing the Lord’s work most strongly.” Writing to young adults, with her own children in mind, has been an extension of that service. “I feel like I have a chance to influence them in certain ways,” says Pace, weaving in themes like the strong helping the weak. Or the reverse: in Grey Stone, the smallest, youngest cat—modeled after Pace’s youngest daughter—is the first to stand up to the adversary at the end.

It was a mac ’n’ cheese miracle. In 2014, when a friend teaching at an inner-city elementary school told Melanie Shashindranath that many of the students go hungry during vacations without the school’s free-meal program, Shashindranath wanted to help. So she joined with the teacher and fellow alum Sherianne Stone Schow (BA ’95, MA ’98), who had created the nonprofit L3 | Love Literacy Life to provide food, clothing, and school supplies for the children at the Kansas City, Kansas, elementary, along with volunteers for the school’s summer reading camp.

The chicken is crucial. Any one of the dozen-some-odd kids who attend Erin Bylund’s free drama camp can tell you that. For most of the last decade, Bylund has worked with neighborhood kids (including her four children) to write, act in, and film plays. What started as a standby chicken costume for the golden-egg-laying goose in their retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk has become a staple in their (mostly zany) productions.  “I love the idea of just gladdening the spot where you are,” Bylund says.

Six beds. Six conversations. Six cheeks kissed. Six daughters asleep for the night. The bedtime routine could take more than an hour at the end of a long day of mothering. But for Caron Beeckel, who in 1979 left BYU early to raise her family, the time was a priority. She wanted each of her girls to feel loved every night, and giving up her dreams for her girls was worth the effort.

Read Beeckel’s full story at BYU Magazine.

Gene and R. Arcola Voyles lost their second youngest of nine children, David, to congenital heart failure. “We buried him up here in the hills of Mississippi,” says Gene, in a cemetery sorely in need of tending. “In short,” says Gene, “we bought the cemetery.” He and Arcola are now the grounds crew, and work tirelessly to tend the grounds of Kennedy Chapel Cemetery.

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.

An avid family historian, Seth Brotherson has helped many older friends to create their own personal history. Following extensive interviews, he spends hours transcribing, eventually providing them with a printed story of their life. “I am changed and motivated by the examples of others,” he says.

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.

After working for decades as a dentist in Las Vegas, Hale and his wife, Norma, have found their service niche in humanitarian dental trips to South and Central America. They especially focus on prospective missionaries who have significant dental concerns, some of which might interfere with missionary service.

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.

The Hogan family’s holiday tradition of delivering Christmas cheer to Boston’s homeless through food and treats was born of a national tragedy – The 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting. “We just wanted to share love with other people and help them feel that there is still good people in the world,” says Michelle.

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.

Becky Schulthies could understand the language of the couple she had been assigned to as a community mentor, but she soon realized that certain aspects of their life would be difficult for her to fully understand. For Schulthies, not fully understanding was okay. “Most of us face challenges that are outside our control,” she says. “Being helped via suspended judgement allows us the support and courage to just make it a little further along.

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.

There can be a lot of divisiveness, animosity, and negativity in our world. And yet, when we come together in service, I think so many of those barriers melt away,” Susan Gavos says. “When we’re working toward a common cause, for just a moment, we can put aside some of those differences and really rebuild the world for good.”

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.

Zooming in on the aerial image, Teresa Pett scanned the faint line running through the Nepalese mountainside – definitely a road, she determined. With a line tool, she traced its shape, adding to the image yet another detail, a detail that might just save a life.

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.

When a tropical storm devastated her seaside town in 2015, Beth Petty decided she wouldn’t be forced to stand by for any future disasters. Now a fully trained, full-time firefighter, Petty says service opportunities seem to find her: “When you’re prepared, it’s like . . . wearing a name tag or a missionary badge. . . People look at you differently. They have an expectation of you, and they will come to you.”

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.

After their sixth child, Koby, was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at birth, Steven and Sharalee Nabrotzky learned to serve others – by allowing others in the community to serve their family. “The hardest lesson is to let others serve you,” Steven says. Sharalee adds, “I really had to humble myself and realize that this is my family, and I’m the mom, but I’m going to need help.”

Read the full story at BYU Magazine. 

Like a pied piper, Ann Searle entices some 30 neighborhood kids and grandkids to her home for her summer reading program and, of course, treats. “I wanted to keep reading alive for kids,” she says. “It’s a little assignment I gave myself.”

Read the full story at BYU Magazine

Despite being a full-time mother raising three children, Temma applies her whole self – and her education – to mothering. She has managed to weave in volunteer psychology work for a local school, log hours online for an organization that fights child sex-trafficking, and fulfill her church callings.

Read the full story at BYU Magazine

“Everyone has a relationship with their body and with food and with exercise,” Kathryn Clover, a mental-health therapist specializing in eating disorders, says. “If I can help make those better – not so fraught with fear and anxiety and anger and shame – then that is work I want to be involved in.”

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.

Huber, with the help of his research team, is wrestling with the science of converting biomass into fuel, gasoline, and plastics. “Anything you can make from petroleum, we can make from biomass and renewable resources,” he says.

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.

The assigned topic was economics. But Goodell, a third-grade teacher at a private elementary school, had grander designs. She wanted to teach these well-off kids a lesson in selflessness. The answer, she decided, was to go into business with her class.

Read the full story at BYU Magazine.

“The kids and dogs must listen to and trust each other, because the dogs can sense danger in the darkness or a moose on the trail. . . .The [kids are] on their own, feeding and taking care of 10 powerful dogs who could drag them away and are their only lifeline to get back” 

“[MMA] is the purest sport that you can do. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor . . . what your heritage is, what your race [is], none of that matters when you’re in the cage. The better man wins.”

“Doing the work that helps our national security is really what motivates me and makes my job interesting. . . . Everything that goes on at the [NNSS] truly makes a difference to our national security.”

“I was 12 years old when my mom was diagnosed with MS…. As I got older [the MS] became more progressive and I would help her with daily things,” Varner recalls. “She would teach me along the way. If I had to help do certain care procedures she would talk to me about it and the importance of doing it correctly. I had the opportunity to see what nursing was like.”

2015 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Humanities

Growing up in communist Bulgaria, Julia Kiriakov Caswell didn't know what it was like to be free. She recounts some of her experiences behind the Iron Curtain and her family's escape.

2015 Alumni Achievement Award winner, Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology

2013 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Life Scienecs

“"If you want to bring people out of problems with their lives, education is key." 
That was Gregg R. Johnson's (MEd '74, EdD '90) motto as he took on the challenge of changing the education program at the Utah Boys Ranch.

“When I lived…it was a mixed blessing.  I was alive, but doctors encouraged my family to remove me from life support because they believed it was not possible to have quality of life where I was mentally aware, but trapped in my body.”

“I’d seen some poverty, but I had never seen anything remotely close to what I saw [then] . . . raw sewage all over the ground; the stench was horrifying. All I could see was this God-forsaken disgusting place. All I wanted to do was leave.”

“I [taught] teachers how to do email, how to log onto a computer and how to use a mouse. Some of the teachers didn’t know how!”  

“It amazes me when I think that I was just this guy from a small town where I never thought anything remarkable was going to happen.”

2014 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Fine Arts and Communications

2014 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Nursing

“Find something you are passionate about, take control of your destiny . . . and surround yourself by people who support you.”

2014 Alumni Achievement Award winner, Marriott School of Management

2014 Alumni Achievement Award winners, J. Rueben Clark Law School

2014 Alumni Achievement Award winner, David O. McKay School of Education

2014 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Hummanities 

2014 Alumni Achievement Award winner, Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology

2014 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences

2014 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Life Sciences

“People see our pink truck and we’re inside in our blue suits just having a good time. We love seeing people’s faces, wondering, ‘What is happening?’ Their reaction is just priceless. We love it.”

“It's just about the girls. . . . I love the girls, I love watching them grow, and I love working towards that growth. . . . They have my heart.”

“It is wonderful when you can feel close to someone, trust them with your innermost feelings and pass through mortality knowing that you are not alone.”

“BYU just validated that faith is your core, and it doesn’t matter that I live halfway across the world from my country, my temples, my spiritual guide, my religious leaders. I can be all that I want to be in a completely alien environment because of faith.”

A self-taught baker defied the odds--twice--to win Food Network's Cake Wars.

“I [always] thought it’d be so cool to [bake cakes] as a job, but I never really believed that it would get to the point where it’s at now.

"When you’re in a war zone, your faith increases exponentially.”

“I don’t think anyone, regardless of how old they are, expects to lose their mother . . . I felt like [her death] blew a big hole in the center of my family’s life.”

“The effort that I put into [Funded Today] influences or even dictates what the output is, so [I] kind of have control over [my] destiny in a sense.”  

“As a person, I'm greater than that. . . it doesn't define me.”

"It's kind of like my world shrunk. . . just suddenly, everything became measurable to me. How many more times am I going to hold my husband's hand? How many more times am I going to do all these things with my kids?"

“I was going to quit my high school club team because my grandma was paying for it, and it’s so expensive... I was pretty upset. Volleyball had become part of my identity and I wondered, ‘Well, what am I going to do now?’”

“I came home one day from school, and I asked [my mother], ‘Why am I being laughed at in school?’ She told me not to worry because I'm beautiful... There's one statement my mother made to me as a young girl that stayed with me even until today. She told me, ‘You are the queen of Africa.’”

Joe Ferguson (BS ’53) has spent 35,000 hours of his life in the sky. That is the equivalent of almost 1,500 days or a total of 4 years. However, out of all of his flights flown for either the U.S. Air Force, commercial airlines, or recreation, his most important flight was the one he never completed.

“It’s like yoga…We’re all stretched to our own level of uncomfortable and it’s hard for all of us. But as we learn and we relax and we keep at it we’re able to [stretch] further and further than we thought we could.”

"I really am very passionate about helping teens handle life's challenges....All I want to do in life is instill hope in these teens.” 

2010 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Life Sciences

"I was given so much at BYU. I am happy to give back in some way, no matter how small, in order to give someone else from the Tulsa area the opportunity for a BYU education.” 

As a mother of two energetic boys, ages 4 and 2, Christine Amaya’s hands are always full. Juggling parenthood and heavy coursework as a student at BYU is challenging even for the most capable mothers. As a divorcée, however, Amaya must juggle her obligations single-handedly.

“I was so happy to be in a place with no swearing, no smoking, no drinking...I was surrounded by all of those habits my entire life; yet, somehow, I hoped for and knew there was a ‘utopia’ someplace where I could get away from that lifestyle.”

“There are times when you are not feeling as if you are singing very well, and it feels really hard in your stomach. It feels as if your stomach wants to collapse but you have to keep it out. I have a voice teacher in New York who told me to picture that an alien is crawling out of my stomach and walking. She tells me to keep it walking to New Jersey. It’s a silly thing, but it keeps my stomach moving forward.”

“I just grew up being a big fish in a little sea... I really think the go-getter in me came from my mom just telling me to never be too good for anyone or any job and just put it all out there.”

“We don’t realize sometimes [that] in sharing our stories, it blesses other people.... The fact that I paid attention to that video, that one, single day—what a difference.”

“I had never done makeup, I didn't know anything about it...I enjoyed it because of all the challenges that I had and the people I met and the places I went for location. What can I say? For the most part, it was really an exciting career.”

2012 Alumni Achievement Award winner, Marriott School of Management

“We love bikepacking because it forces us to slow down and enjoy the simple moments along the trail.”

"People are who they are because of their experience. Each one of those aspects makes us a unique individual. So what do I bring to the table? Why did I come up with this? I can give one answer to that, and it’s because I have a unique experience. . . . I was at a certain point of time with a certain set of experiences that then led us to come up with this product.”

2015 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Life Sciences

2013 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Fine Arts and Communication

“A wig does not save lives or help these kids get treatment, but it allows them to be kids again. . . . It can give them a magical escape.”

“When we started doing compassionate service activities, it made them more aware that there's more going on in their world. They had a bigger, broader picture, and it changed the way they treated each other. . . . They were excited about giving back.”

“Every single one of them, over the course of a little more than a year, has done a 180-degree change in their lives. They’ve gone from nothing except being in jail, to reuniting with their family, working, living on their own, having a family. They’re all great stories and it’s rewarding.”

“Meet some local refugees. As you expose yourself to these people, you will be inspired to help them. You will fall in love with these people.”

“You never know where your journey is going to take you. I studied chemical engineering, and today, I sell rubber duckies.”

“I don’t believe in ‘no.' Somehow, I’ve always believed that I could overcome the obstacle to make things work.”

“I began to think about a trend I saw, that many people wanted experience and inclusion more than competition. I realized that people wanted to be fit and do something healthy, but not necessarily have the pressure of a timed race.”

2013 Alumni Achievement Award winner, J. Reuben Clark Law School

“Every time I tell people I work for Disney, their faces light up. It makes me proud to be part of a company that brings happiness to people.”

“I wanted to be more a part of my community and be a part of creating community. I liked that public libraries were dedicated to serving everyone and realized they were one of the only indoor spaces left available to the public where you did not have to buy something to justify your presence there.”

When several of Boston’s prominent LDS athletes happen to be in your ward, what do you do?

2015 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Nursing

2015 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Fine Arts and Communications

2015 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences

Nichelle Tanner Stephens' unexpected choice of minor ends leads to major life decisions.

"What started as a young girl heading off to BYU in the early 70s became a family tradition that saw someone from our family at BYU almost continuously from 1994 to 2016."

“There was a work for us to do, people to help, and if we were humble and willing to work, we could be instruments in the Lord’s hands.”

“It takes very little to change someone’s life; the price of a burger could give someone sight.”

“I have become a better person,” she says. “I am a kinder, more reasoned, and patient human being.”

“I just love to see beautiful, meaningful things.”

“I was sort of a fish out of water in economics,” he says. “My advisors did not know what to say to me. I always knew I wanted to be involved in the entertainment industry, but I found the modeling and projection in my major fascinating. Through economics I could study human behavior with a framework that tells me who people are and what they value by how they use their resources and how they behave.”

Colleen and Gary Worthington are small-business owners who couldn’t take the enterprise out of their golden years—and turned their retirement on its head.

"That was the last time I saw him. That moment was a gift. He had been given the inspiration for me."

"The Savior was the master healer, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I’m not anywhere close to that, but it is a great blessing to work in a field where I can try emulate to Him in some small way.”

"I soon learned that to survive I must positively control my mind or else negative thoughts would destroy me."

Get to know your favorite BYU professors—starting with Camille Fronk Olson, professor of ancient scripture. 

“There is no end point in a career. Getting better as a person is the most satisfying part of my career.”

“[Stan] Watts once said of this team, the thing that stood out was how they became leaders in the community, faithful churchmen and stayed married to the same woman.”

A group of friends have an unlikely meeting place.

“I feel like I have come full circle—from an undergraduate research student to mentoring many undergraduate research students. It all started with my experience at BYU."

"I use magic as a vehicle to do good in the world. There is enough depression, frustration, and sadness; I saw an opportunity where I can focus my life on doing fun things."

“I don’t know, because I’m not a black person at a white university. I’m a Mormon at a Mormon university.”

Now retired, Dick Johnson is looking for a rematch on the court.

2000 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Nursing

“There’s this wonderful sense of comradery and unity that sports bring. Whether you’re a sports fan or not, I think all people appreciate an extraordinary effort and a great performance.”

“My hope is that everyone realizes that they are somebody. . . Local problems are solved by community members working with us. Go about doing good things in your community.”

“I think the story is rock and roll through and through with an unexpected twist. It has a bit of a shock factor, but if you read it and pause between paragraphs, it brings to mind important, contemporary questions about allegiances during peace and war.”

“Leading in our homes is the purest form of leadership. We don’t hire our children, we can’t fire them, . . . and your kids don’t really get to fire you either. . . . It forces you to really learn good, righteous leadership.”

“I wanted to be a professional artist,but I never imagined I would be sculpting the greatest football players ever to play the game."

“I never thought I could be doing what I’m doing at this age. I’ve had a lot of people tell me, ‘You’re crazy.’ But here I am wrestling at 63.”

"I struggled to find a place at BYU. I did not know many people and had no family nearby for support. One day, as I stood on the second floor of the Cougareat, I pondered my future and decided to go home."

“I was a band nerd and an orch dork who had wonderful school experiences because of music. If we were considered nerds, well, nerds run the world now and determine a lot of today’s culture.”

"How do you liken something unto yourself? It has to be something you already relate to. If I have the scriptures and Legos as the medium, then I am likening the scriptures to me."

Harvey Fletcher will be honored during 2016's Grammy Awards' Special Merit Awards ceremony to receive a Technical Grammy Award.

“Music gives our family an opportunity to serve others by performing, our children learn to interact with adults, and they gain confidence."

"Many don't go for their dreams, but I'm living mine. Go for your dream."

“There is something so vibrant about the dance and rhythms that hits you right in the center of your heart. It is especially satisfying to me as a teacher, because I help children with their rhythm and confidence, which brings a lot of joy to my life.”

"Mark is the Renaissance man of photography."

Counseling psychology and special education professor Katie Sampson Steed (BS ’00, MS ’04) remembers the moment she “converted to Utah.” It was the Oregon native’s first time in Zion National Park’s world-famous Subway, a 10-mile, permits-required hike.

“It’s like nothing else,” says Steed, recounting the journey on which adventurers descend from a forest into a slot canyon, boulder over—and swim under—obstacles, submerge in icy canyon pools, rappel down waterfalls, and more. At last, “you reach the chunnel part,” the round tube carved out of the red rock.

Music professor Claudine Pinnell Bigelow (BM ’92, MM ’94) has a way with strings—orchestral and woolen. When she’s not making her viola strings sing, she can often be found knitting, her needles clicking out a music of their own. And she doesn’t just make your average hats and scarves, either. Her most difficult project to date is a lace heirloom shawl, gorgeously complex, that took her an entire year and 1,700 yards of yarn to finish.

Walk through ancient scripture professor Thomas A. Wayment’s Mapleton, Utah, home, and you might think you’ve stepped into a high-end American furniture catalog showroom—and with good reason. “I try to talk furniture makers into letting me have their catalog,” says Wayment, who will then craft a modified piece from the picture alone.

Except for the piano, sofas, and some chairs, Wayment has created all of the woodwork in his home—dressers, beds, floors, cabinetry, and doors—most from quartersawn oak, with its wavy grain and distinctive ray-fleck pattern.

If all of Kerry D. Soper’s art were displayed in one show, unknowing patrons might question why the curator chose to bring together the works of two very different artists. On one wall might hang an oil painting of a dusk-lit pastoral landscape; on another, a satirical jab at academia via a rowdy set of cartoon characters.

“Call me Professor Wright or Dude,” Mark Alan Wright introduces himself at the beginning of a semester. “Dude, where I come from, is a title of respect.”

2012 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences

2012 Alumni Achievement Award winner, Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Techonology

2012 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Nursing

2012 Alumni Achievement Award winner, David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies

2012 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Life Sciences

2012 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Fine Arts and Communications

2012 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences

A difficult hike up the world's highest free-standing mountain taught Kristina Southam many important life lessons.

Marilyn Dahneke has her work cut out for her.

"It’s all about distraction so the child doesn’t feel anxious.”

“There are no band geeks around here.”

“In Japanese there is an expression – Ichi-go Ichi-eh – literally translated it means ‘one period, one meeting.’ The deeper meaning is that each and every meeting or encounter with each person will only occur in this way once in your life time – so make the most of it."

“We are living proof of the tagline, ‘Chances are, the relationships that changed your life started at BYU.'"

How do you react when your life doesn't go as planned? 

Inspired by the support they received after learning their daughter had Down syndrome, Aubrey’s parents pay it forward.

What is it like attending BYU when you've only been a member for 6 months?

When Paul was accepted to the only school he'd ever wanted to attend, would it live up to his expectations?

Ready to rock and roll?” At a neighbor’s orchard, comms professor Quint B. Randle (BA ’84) pulls on a long-sleeved shirt and veil. It’s time to check his hives. He treats the bees with white puffs of smoke from the fiberboard smoldering in his metal smoker. “They think their hive is on fire and they’re going to have to leave,” he says. “So they drink all of this honey and then they get happy and calm.”

Meet Jen Dille, a BYU alum and executive director for Hope Arising—a non-profit organization working in Dera, Ethiopia. “I graduated in secondary education, so my favorite activity is going into the local schools there,” Jennifer says. “I learned in my classes at BYU the importance of holding the students’ attention.”

A few months after graduating from BYU, Calli Nielsen felt lost and unsure of what to do next. She had planned on graduating and going on to save the world—but realized that first, she needed to land a job interview.

Kristine Walker Bennett worked as a medical technologist for 30 years. However, in 2005, Kristine was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Before long, she was forced to retire. Rather than becoming a victim of the disease and accepting defeat, Kristine decided to compete in Mrs. Utah in 2011. Her campaign was “In Spite of Adversity, You Can Succeed.”

“I had a desire to let people know to not be discouraged. I wanted to be an inspiration to people. I didn’t expect to win, but I wanted to inspire others to try,” Kristine explains.

“Good planning can lead to a more functional community. People are happier. Communities are safer. Everyone has the opportunity to live healthier and more prosperous lives.”

“The cast and I were the original fans of ‘Napoleon Dynamite,’ and we started quoting lines after we shot scenes”

“I have heard it said that, all pyrotechnics and action aside, most drama comes down to two people sitting in a room, talking.”

2012 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Humanities

“We all become stuck at different times throughout our lives,” Davis explains. “Our choice to become unstuck and succeed in getting unstuck depends on many factors: who we are, how hard we try, and who is there to help us.”

“We have always and will always continue to love BYU for the difference it makes in people’s lives, including ours."

“About two or three years ago, my vision took a sudden nosedive, and now I can sometimes get just a glimpse of a light. I guess I sometimes have thought of the situation as more of an adventure.”

"During some serious soul searching, I asked myself if I would be doing the same routine the next 20 or more years if I stayed at BYU. I also asked myself if I were up for a new challenge.”

“I have had the privilege of being employed by the Church during a time of great growth, and it has been my pleasure to serve with President Gordon B. Hinckley, a leader who is brilliant, knowledgeable, and savvy. I can’t think of a better time to be so involved with the Church.”

“He has become a bit of a celebrity here,” Kay says of her hometown, but she could have been referring to the entire country. “They haven’t used his last name since he was a junior in high school. They just say, ‘Jimmer,’ and everyone knows who it is.”

"I saw a little girl sitting on a couch, with a TV, radio, and light on. She had eight siblings older than she. This struck me—this was a pinnacle moment. Everyone older than she was had lived without power, and she won't know life without it."

“Even when our children were little, we wanted to serve missions with them for the Church."

"If you decide you want to do something and apply yourself and don’t give up, you can do it.”

“If we don’t first satisfy our employees, it is unrealistic and disingenuous to expect them to meet the needs of the people they serve."

 “I have looked at medicine almost as a sacred calling because you are dealing with intimate problems with families, and to be able to assist with reassurance and calmness and to help them with deep concern makes such a difference."

“I told myself back then that I probably could write songs and maybe someday I just might do it."

"I always wanted a career as a singer and composer, but it wasn't until I heard Elder Jeffrey Holland challenge us to pursue our dreams that I decided to fully follow my dream of vocal performance."

“If I put as much time into the stock market as I put into reading articles about players’ potential, I could probably make a heck of a lot more money.”

"People thought I was going to die. I even had a doctor tell my parents to take me home and enjoy what little time I had left."

“I am proud that I chose to dive after almost losing my life.”

“I guess I do a lot of yelling, but it’s not out of anger. It’s out of excitement.”

“When you read the scriptures, we read that ‘today is the day for men to perform their labors’. There is a reason for this life; this is the day for us to make changes in our lives. When you see people in prison…they haven’t had the opportunity to say no to the bad. We are trying to give people the opportunity to make decisions and change.”

“It [carillon music] just becomes a part of being at BYU. People tell me ‘I didn’t realize how much I appreciated it until I was back at BYU and heard the carillon, and it brought back so many memories.’ It’s just fun to be a part of other people’s stories.”

“I had a great time learning to snowboard on the slope just outside the Grant Building, which houses the (BYU) testing center.”

“Being a wife and mother is a challenging job, and not only that, it’s a lot more difficult than an office job because it takes 24 hours a day with no time off.”

“The idea of being of service to others, and making sure that everybody has a chance, that everyone has an opportunity, regardless of our differences . . . that is the path I am trying to take. We ought to find ways to support each other and find common ground.”

“I feel as if I’ve received so much enlightenment during my travel experiences that I need to give back. The people of Nepal gave me so much love and kindness that it is an honor to help them.”

“Archaeology rocks. You are physically interacting with the past, and key is to find the story because that is what people are interested in . . . the Henry Morgans and the Captain Kidds . . . How do we tell their stories? What do we know, what can we find out about them that we might not have known before? It’s those stories and the history that let us know who we are and where we came from. We all came from somewhere.”

“Honestly, I don’t know why more girls don’t get into science and engineering. It’s so cool. If you just look at the world around you, everything has engineering in it. With everything you see, somebody had to design and figure out how to do it. Somebody had to come up with a way to lock a door; someone had to design cars. Hey, somebody had to figure out how to get mascara to stick to a brush.”

“It was pretty dead there from about midnight to 5, but they were required to have someone on staff, and so when I got hired I told my boss, ‘I'm just going to write books all night,’ and he replied, ‘That's great. At least you won't sleep on the couch like the person before you.’”

“You’ve just got to find somebody who is in worse shape than you and help them be happy.”

“My vision is that attendees will leave the festival with a firm commitment to make changes in their personal lives that will lead to a stronger America.”

2005 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Fine Arts and Communications

“As a boy I used to go to the Coliseum in Los Angeles and watch fabulous fireworks shows, and when I suggested it for Provo, I’m sure people wanted to throw me from the room.”

“It broke my heart whenever Zach asked me why he couldn’t play like the other kids. A park is the perfect place for children to socialize and connect with each other, and I hated seeing him sidelined.”

“You are what you eat, so eat something sweet. Baking was magic to me as a child. It still is.”

“A scholar is someone who is inspired and following a passion and willing to become better than he or she is.”

“With all the color and action, it’s as if I’m in a cartoon.”

“I’m a provider, defender, protector, and record keeper as I help prepare my babies for loving adoptive homes.”

2005 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences

“If this were only about rugby, I would have left years ago. It’s all about the boys, and that’s what keeps me in the game.”

“All families, regardless of their structure, have to communicate, deal with conflict, handle finances, and manage children, if they have them.”

“There is something singular about going to a live performance and being hit with a visceral human sound and realizing it is coming from a person opening his or her heart and soul.”

“Yoga is a yoking of the body and mind. If both are healthy, our spirit can really soar,”

“I call the title my Miss America card, and I have an instinct about when it will help me get in a door or when it is better left unused.”

2010 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences

2000 Alumni Achievement Award winner, College of Fine Arts And Communications

“Some rootbeers use licorice as a flavoring, and that gives it a strong taste. I don’t care for that as much.”

“Dr. Huizenga predicted I would die April 23, 2024. I was blown away. I began to cry, not for myself, but for my 8-year-old daughter, who would lose her father in her early 20s if this happened.”

“I wasn’t interested in just doing one lovely thing. I wanted us to do something that had to last long enough that it would require some level of sacrifice.”

“I’m a real advocate for blogging. If you have a day without tantrums, for example, or you happen to find a pair of shoes on clearance in your 4-year-old’s size, the New York Times isn’t going to care. But when you write it on your blog, your readers totally get it.”

“I hope I can do this until I die. I’m still pinching myself after more than 20 years. I would like nothing better than someday dropping dead into a bottle of ink.”

“I would never have guessed when I started my education at BYU that I would now be working with law enforcement and forensic scientists around the world to help solve murders, rapes, and other brutal crimes, but here I am. It’s an incredible place to be.”

“No, this long bout of Crusoe-envy seemed to be more physical than spiritual; an appreciation for what Teddy Roosevelt called the ‘doctrine of the strenuous life.’ Roosevelt bemoaned the ‘timid man,’ the man living ‘a life of slothful and ignoble ease.’ The man I fear I've become. As a kid, I used to snicker when I shook an uncallused hand. Now I've got two of my own. I used to bathe in the evening after a hard day's work. Now I shower in the morning.”

“Because my body is used to going the distance, I don’t hurt after a race. I hope I can do this until I’m dead.”

2012 Alumni Achievement Award winner, J. Reuben Clark Law School