2022 FAIR Conference

Brent Andrewsen

Brent Andrewsen practices at a regional law firm with offices throughout the Intermountain West. He is the chairman of Sutherland Institute Board of Directors, an independent research and educational institution and think tank, whose mission is to advance civility, sound ideas, and principled public policy supporting faith, family and free enterprise. Brent serves as the chairman of Skyline Research Institute and is the former chairman of the Board of Directors at Kirton McConkie. He has an AV Preeminent peer rating from Martindale-Hubbell and is recognized as one of Utah’s Legal Elite for estate planning, a Mountain States Super Lawyer for estate planning and non-profits, and a Best Lawyer for trusts/estates and non-profits/charities. He was also honored by Utah Business magazine as a 40 Under 40 Rising Star. Brent earned his B.A. in political science from BYU and a J.D. cum laude from the Washington & Lee University Law School.
Presentation: Foundational to Our Faith: “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”

Barrett Burgin

Barrett Burgin is an award-winning filmmaker, best known for his films The Next Door (2016), Out of the Ground (2017), Father of Man (2019), and most recently CRYO (2022), which released in theaters and on digital in June. Burgin has also written extensively about the potential of Latter-day Saint Cinema, as well as the intersections between videogames, ritual, new media, the afterlife, immortality, and technology..
Presentation: Five Pillars for a New Wave of Latter-day Saint Cinema

Angela Fallentine

Angela Fallentine is a policy advisor and research analyst on the family at the United Nations and also serves as the vice-president of Skyline Research Institute. Her policy work focuses on women, peace, and security, international family policy, and family skills programs for refugees and internally displaced populations. She previously worked in international and government relations in Washington, D.C. and Canada. Angela received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Utah State University and a master’s degree from Harvard University, where her public policy research focused on strengthening families in humanitarian settings in the Middle East. She and her husband John live in the greater New York City area.
Presentation: Why Marriage, Why Family? Introducing a New Framework for Deepening Public Understanding about the Role of the Family in Society

Craig Foster

Craig L. Foster earned a MA and MLIS at Brigham Young University. He is also an accredited genealogist and worked as a research consultant at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City for over thirty years before retiring in December 2021. He has published multiple books and articles about different aspects of Mormon history, including co-editing the Persistence of Polygamy series with Newell G. Bringhurst and co-authored American Polygamy: A History of Fundamentalist Mormon Faith with Marianne T. Watson. Craig is also on the editorial board of the John Whitmer Historical Association Journal.
Presentation: What Under the Banner of Heaven Gets Wrong

Dan Galorath

Dan Galorath is founder and CEO of Galorath Inc., a software and solutions company focusing on “The Future. Delivered.” He has received lifetime achievement awards for his work in program management, measurement, planning, estimation, and project control. Galorath also serves on several business and charitable boards. As an adult convert to the church, Dan views the internet and social media as a means to declare unto every soul the mission of Jesus Christ and the plan of redemption which are clearly made known in the Book of Mormon. He lives in the Los Angeles area and currently serves in the Presidency of the California Los Angeles Mission.
Presentation: Decisions Determine Destiny, My Road to Christ

Cassandra Hedelius

Cassandra Hedelius serves on the board of FAIR. She has a JD from the University of Colorado and has practiced domestic and business law. She is currently raising and homeschooling her three children.
Presentation: Compassion and Evidence: The Wisdom of Church Guidelines for Transgender Individuals and Their Families

Paul Hoybjerg

Paul Hoybjerg is the founding partner of Hoybjerg Law. His firm specializes in advocating for individuals who have been injured in vehicle collisions, motorcycle/trucking accidents, dog bites, slip-and-fall incidents, as well as victims of abuse. Hoybjerg Law has offices in California, Utah, and Idaho. Mr. Hoybjerg has been published in MA, UT, CA, and nationally syndicated magazines. He has been interviewed and presented on multiple podcasts and has appeared on Fox and NBC. He co-founded the Courts & Clergy Lawyers Auxiliary in Sacramento, which combines the efforts of lawyers from the Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint faiths. Mr. Hoybjerg sits on the board of directors for the Sacramento County Bar Association. Mr. Hoybjerg has used his connections to build bridges with domestic violence centers, minority & religious organizations, and the LBGT community. Mr. Hoybjerg is passionate about helping restore and respect the human dignity of each individual.
Presentation: Respecting Human Dignity–Tools to Build Bridges and Celebrate Differences

Kent P. Jackson

Kent P. Jackson is a professor emeritus of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University. He has a B.A. in ancient studies from BYU and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern studies from the University of Michigan. He joined the faculty of Brigham Young University in 1980.

His research interests include Latter-day Saint scripture, doctrine, and history, with emphasis on the intersection of the Latter-day Saint faith and the Bible. He has authored or edited Joseph Smith’s Commentary on the Bible, Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts, The Book of Moses and the Joseph Smith Translation Manuscripts, Joseph Smith’s Translation of the Bible: The Joseph Smith Translation and the King James Translation in Parallel Columns and Understanding Joseph Smith’s Translation of the Bible.

Professor Jackson is a former associate dean of Religion and former associate director of the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies.
Presentation: Was Joseph Smith Influenced by Outside Sources in His Translation of the Bible?

Tarik D. LaCour

Tarik D. LaCour is a Ph.D student in philosophy and MA student in neuroscience at Texas A&M. Primary research interests are in philosophy of neuroscience, philosophy of mind, moral psychology, and epistemology. He is a traditional Latter-day Saint and author of the blog Mad Dog Naturalist. He has interest in developing rigorous apologetic arguments rooted in an empirical philosophical approach and plans on continuing his contributions to Latter-day Saint apologetics.
Presentation: Taking the Best Arguments for Atheism Seriously

Gary Lawrence

Gary Lawrence is a public opinion researcher in Orange County, California.  He received a B.A. in political science from BYU and a Ph.D. from Stanford in the study of attitudes — how they are formed, how they are measured, and how they are changed.  He served a mission in Germany, has been an early morning seminary teacher, a bishop, and a member of various public affairs task forces in which he has conducted many focus groups for the Church.  Gary is the author of four books: How Americans View Mormonism, Mormons Believe … What?!, The War in Heaven Continues, and The Magnificent Gift of Agency. He and his wife, Jan, have been ordinance workers in the Newport Beach temple for 17 years.  They have four children and seven grandchildren and recently celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary.
Presentation: How Comfortable Conversations About the Gift of Agency Lead to Interest in the Gospel

Ty Mansfield

Ty Mansfield received his Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy and has a private practice specializing in marital and sexual health and work with sexual and gender minorities. He is also adjunct faculty in Religious Education and the School of Family Life at BYU. Ty is a co-founder and past president of North Star, a faith-based ministry for Latter-day Saint sexual and gender minorities, and is currently serving as a member of the board of directors. He is part of the Reconciliation and Growth Project, a dialogue group between LGBTQ affirmative and religious conservative mental health professionals who have developed an ethical mental health treatment protocol for working with individuals experiencing conflict between their faith and their sexuality and/or gender identity. He is also part of the 4 Options Survey research team, a similarly ideologically diverse collaborative effort looking at healthy and sustainable life paths for sexual minorities. In addition to his work with sexuality and gender, Ty is a certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher and a co-author with Jacob Hess, Carrie Skarda, and Kyle Anderson of the recent book The Power of Stillness: Mindful Living for Latter-day Saints. He and his wife, Danielle, have five children and live in Spanish Fork, Utah.
Presentation: Loving Truth and Truly Loving: Mapping the Problems and Possibilities in the Latter-day Saint/LGBTQ+ Conversation

Matthew McBride

Matthew S. McBride is director of the Publications Division of the Church History Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He earned an MA in American history from the University of Utah. Matt is the author of A House for the Most High: The Story of the Original Nauvoo Temple (2007) and coeditor of Revelations in Context: The Stories behind the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants (2016). His article on the origins of the women’s missionary program in the church won the Mormon History Association’s Best Article Award for 2018. He was previously the digital content manager for the Publications Division, and prior to that, director of web development and director of digital publishing for Deseret Book Company.
Presentation: The Life and Faith of William Paul Daniels: Reflections on Church Membership and Apologetics

Kerry Muhlestein

Kerry received his B.S. from BYU in Psychology with a Hebrew minor. He received an M.A. in Ancient Near Eastern Studies from BYU and his Ph.D. from UCLA in Egyptology, where in his final year he was named the UCLA Affiliates Graduate Student of the Year. His first full time appointment was a joint position in Religion and History at BYU-Hawaii. He is the director of the BYU Egypt Excavation Project. He has been teaching about Isaiah for almost three decades, and has been teaching classes specifically on Isaiah for several years, and has written a verse-by-verse commentary on Isaiah. He and his wife, Julianne, are the parents of six children, and together they have lived in Jerusalem while Kerry has taught there on multiple occasions.
Presentation: Keys to Understanding Isaiah

Daniel Peterson

Daniel C. Peterson is the president of the Interpreter Foundation, which publishes the online periodical Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, produces books, convenes conferences, and sponsors a weekly radio program:  https://interpreterfoundation.org.  He and his wife were the executive producers of the 2021 theatrical film Witnesses and have served in the same capacity for its 2022 docudrama sequel, Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon.

A native of southern California who earned his doctorate at UCLA after study at BYU, in Jerusalem, and in Cairo, he retired on 1 July 2021 as a professor of Islamic studies and Arabic at Brigham Young University, where he had taught since 1985.

Formerly director of research and chairman of the board of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), now BYU’s Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, he is also a former president of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology and is currently a member of the board of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy.

Dr. Peterson served in the Switzerland Zürich Mission (1972-1974), and, for approximately eight years, on the Gospel Doctrine writing committee for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also presided for a time as the bishop of a singles ward adjacent to Utah Valley University.

He is married to the former Deborah Stephens, of Lakewood, Colorado, and they have three sons and three granddaughters.
Presentation: Reflections of a Latter-day Saint Movie Maker

Neal Rappleye

Neal Rappleye has been doing ongoing research on the Book of Mormon for several years. His work has been published by Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture, FairMormon, the Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum, LDS.net, and Meridian Magazine. He presented at the 2014 and 2016 Book of Mormon Lands Conferences and is the co-recipient of the 2013 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award from FairMormon. He maintains a personal blog, Studio et Quoque Fide (By Study and Also By Faith), http://www.studioetquoquefide.com/.

As a Research Project Manager for Book of Mormon Central, Neal selects, writes, and reviews content for KnoWhys, and oversees the production of the accompanying social media products.

As Operations Manager, Neal oversees the daily tasks and operations of the Book of Mormon Central staff.
Presentation: Ishmael and Nahom in Ancient Inscriptions

Carol Rice

Carol Rice is the president of Skyline Research Institute and the Director of Communications for Public Square Magazine, a joint project of the Elizabeth McCune and the John A. Widstoe Foundation. As a communication, marketing, and outreach director over the past two decades, she has provided specialized communication and messaging training for non-profits and non-governmental organizations, including at the United Nations. She has worked extensively with prestigious storytelling organizations, including the Timpanogos Storytelling Institute, the National Storytelling Network, and the International Storytelling Center. Carol earned a BA in marriage and family relations with an emphasis in family advocacy from BYU-I. She and her husband Scott live in Alpine, Utah.
Presentation: Teaching and Communicating the Doctrine of the Family to the Rising Generation: The Power of Combining Scripture, Scholarship, and Storytelling

Jelaire and Nathan Richardson

Jelaire Richardson is a blogger and homeschooling mom of six who currently lives in the Middle East. She has spoken at BYU-I Education Week, the Middle East Women’s Conference, and various local and regional events on topics relating to women, youth, and interfaith relations. Her favorite pastime is attending other churches’ worship services with her family in addition to their own LDS congregation. She earned a B.S. in sociology from BYU-I and a master’s in social work from BYU. Prior to starting her family, she worked as a therapist for teens with substance abuse addictions. Nathan and Jelaire currently work together on projects for thefamilyproclamation.org.

Nathan Richardson is a speech-language pathologist who has published research articles in academic journals. He is also a book designer and has worked for multiple publishing houses, including the BYU Religious Studies Center and BYU Studies, as well as owned his own document design business. He is a frequent speaker at BYU-I Education Week. He received a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in communication disorders from BYU and works for a private family in the Middle East. He designs gospel study aids and a study edition of the scriptures on his website NathanRichardson.com.
Presentation: Filling a Critical Needs-Gap for the Rising Generation: A New Family Proclamation Curriculum

Ben Spackman

Ben Spackman is a PhD candidate in American Religious History at Claremont, and the 2022-23 Mormon Studies Fellow at the University of Utah. His dissertation examines the intellectual roots of LDS creationism and evolution in the 20th century. Prior to his work at Claremont, he received a master’s degree and did PhD work in Old Testament languages and literature at the University of Chicago. He is a guest editor of a special edition of BYU Studies dedicated to biological evolution and LDS faith, and writes at BenSpackman.com.
Presentation: First Things, Faith, and Reading Scripture Literally: Why It Matters

Jeffrey Thayne

Dr. Jeffrey Thayne graduated from BYU with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in psychology. He completed his doctorate in Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences at Utah State University. He runs the popular Latter-day Saint Philosopher blog, and spends time engaging in worldview apologetics (articulating and exploring the worldview assumptions that inform our faith). He currently resides in Washington state with his wife and two children.
Presentation: Moral Intuitions and Persuasion: Exploring the Psychology of Conversion and Deconversion

Lynne Wilson

Lynne Hilton Wilson earned her Ph.D. in Theology and American Religious History from Marquette University.  Her doctoral dissertation compared Joseph Smith’s understanding of the Spirit with his contemporaries. Her master’s degree focused on New Testament studies. She attended BYU as an undergraduate and studied nursing and music. She returned to BYU has as an adjunct professor of Religion, and to teach at Education Week. She is presents regularly at the Mormon History Association, Society of Biblical Literature, and the like. She has served in the Church Education System for the past 35 years.  Currently she teaches Institute.  Previous Publications include: Christ’s Emancipation of New Testament Women, Nativity Narratives, Learning the Language of the Lord: A Guidebook to Personal Revelation, To Witness Easter, and articles in BYU Studies, the Interpreter, Religious Educator, and the BYU Religious Studies Center. She is co-founder of BookofMormonCentral.org. She and her husband, Elder Dow R. Wilson live in Palo Alto, California. They have seven children (all with red hair), and eight grandchildren (blond, ginger, and brown).
Presentation: Restoring a Kingdom of Priests and Priestesses

Jed Woodworth

Jed Woodworth is a historian and writer in the Church History Department in Salt Lake City. He holds degrees from BYU, Harvard, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned a PhD in history. He is currently the managing historian of Saints, the Church’s new multivolume narrative history. He and his wife, Shawna, are the parents of six children, ages 17 to 2.
Presentation: Saints: Volume 3, and the Problem of Doubt

Bruce Young

Bruce Young taught English literature at Brigham Young University for 38 years, specializing in Shakespeare, Renaissance literature, and C. S. Lewis, along with an interest in the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. After retiring last year, he and his wife, Margaret Blair Young, prepared for missionary service in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They returned from their six-month mission a few days ago. Bruce has published on Shakespeare and other subjects, including a book titled Family Life in the Age of Shakespeare. Together they have produced two feature films, Heart of Africa and Heart of Africa 2: Companions. They have four children and ten grandchildren, including five bonus grandchildren who joined the family as a group in 2017.
Presentation: Living and Sharing the Essence of the Gospel in the DR-Congo