Henry J. Eyring

Henry Johnson Eyring (born September 19, 1963) is an American academic administrator, author, and businessman. He is the 17th and current president of Brigham Young University–Idaho (BYU–Idaho). Since April 2019, he has also served as an area seventy in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).He previously served as both the Academic and Advancement vice president at BYU-Idaho, as well as director of the Marriott School of Business (MSB) MBA program at Brigham Young University (BYU).

Eyring was born in Palo Alto, California, a son of Henry B. Eyring and Kathleen (née Johnson).The family lived in California while Eyring's father taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business until 1971, when they moved to Rexburg, Idaho where his father was the newly appointed president of Ricks College (present-day BYU–Idaho).From 1982 to 1984, Eyring served as a full-time missionary LDS Church in the Japan Nagoya Mission. Eyring is a graduate of BYU where he received a bachelor's degree in geology ('85), an M.B.A. degree ('89) and a J.D. degree ('89).

Business

From 1989 to 1998, Eyring was with a Cambridge, Massachusetts management-consulting firm, Monitor Group, which was founded in 1983 by six entrepreneurs with Harvard Business School (HBS) ties. He has also served as a director of SkyWest Airlines since 1995.From 2002 to 2003 he was a special partner with Peterson Capital.

Academia

From 1998 to 2002, Eyring served in the MSB as director of BYU's MBA program.

Eyring began employment at BYU-Idaho in 2006.Eyring initially served as an Associate Academic Vice President, with responsibility for online learning and instructional technology. From 2008 to 2015, Eyring served as BYU–Idaho's Advancement Vice President.He then served from 2015 to 2017 as BYU-Idaho's Academic Vice President. On February 7, 2017, Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles announced that Eyring would succeed Clark Gilbert as president of BYU–Idaho, effective April 10, 2017. His official inauguration occurred on September 19, 2017.

In 2011, while serving as BYU-Idaho's Advancement Vice President, Eyring co-authored The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education with HBS professor Clayton M. Christensen, discussing the future of higher education and making college economically viable while conducting an in depth look at the histories of Harvard University and BYU-Idaho. Eyring has also served as a trustee of Southern Utah University and is an adjunct fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.

Eyring and his wife, Kelly, have five children and reside in Rexburg, Idaho. Eyring's eldest son, Henry, is an assistant professor of accounting at The London School of Economics and Political Science.

Eyring is a grandson of American theoretical chemist Henry Eyring and wrote a biography of his grandfather entitled Mormon Scientist: The Life and Faith of Henry Eyring. He also co-wrote a biography about his father, Henry B. Eyring, an educational administrator and LDS Church leader, entitled I Will Lead You Along: The Life of Henry B. Eyring.

Eyring's great-great-grandmother was a Romney. "In fact, [his] grandfather's father was married to two Romney sisters. They were driven out of the United States, to Mexico [due to polygamy]. Then they were driven out of Mexico, by Pancho Villa and the Mexican Revolution." Mitt Romney's son, Tagg, has also worked at Monitor Group. Eyring spoke about Mitt Romney and the ethic of education, business, law and politics in Mormomism in a New Yorker article by Nicholas Lemann. Lemann was addressing Romney's formative influences, experience and philosophy during the 2012 U.S. presidential election.

In addition to his work in academia, Eyring has served in various leadership positions within the LDS Church, including as president of the Japan Tokyo North Mission, bishop, and stake president. Eyring was sustained an area seventy during the church's general conference on April 6, 2019.