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A native of Provo, Utah, Dr. Dallin H. Oaks, 38, Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, today was names as the new president of the Brigham Young University.

Dr. Oaks. appointment was approved early today by the BYU Board of Trustees upon the recommendation of the First Presidency.

The new president was then introduced later this morning to the faculty and student body of his alma mater at Devotional.

The devotional was held under the direction of President Joseph Fielding Smith and Dr. Kenneth H. Beesley, Associate Church Commissioner of Education for Colleges and Schools.

Appointment of the new president ended the activities of a Church-appointed search committee to select a successor to Dr. Ernest L. Wilkinson whose resignation was announced on March 9, by the First Presidency. At the time of his resignation it was announced that BYU would establish a college of law with Dr. Wilkinson assuming a major role in its establishment.

Dr. Wilkinson conducted the assembly and Dr. Beesley introduced the new president, giving a brief resume of the life and accomplishments of Dr. Oaks. Dr. Oaks then responded, and President N. Eldon Tanner of the First Presidency made the concluding remarks.

In his remarks, Dr. Beesley read a message from the Church Commissioner of Education Neal A. Maxwell who is in England on special assignment for the University of Utah Graduate School of Business. In his message, Commissioner Maxwell said:

“Dallin Oaks has achieved significantly in the world without being compromised by it — which has earned him the high esteem of academic colleagues and his associated in the Church. Able to deal with the issues of our time in the context of Gospel solutions, he is committed to excellence. His probing thoughtful approach to people and to problems permits him to build relationships with young and old, with Church members and non-members.

“He brings much talent and the thrust of youth to the presidency of the key institution in the Church’s educational system, where, with the help of a dedicated faculty and staff and a special student body, a new and vital chapter in the history of BYU will now be written.”

Commissioner Maxwell also stated that “special appreciated is due to the First Presidency and the search committee, chaired by Elder Marion G. Romney of the Council of the Twelve, for the painstaking and prayerful hours over weeks of time they have devoted to this vital task of selection.”

Dr. Oaks comes into his new position with a wide experience in the legal profession, as an educator and as an administrator.



Copyright Brigham Young University 22 Nov 2005