Program Details

Ronald W. Walker

Ronald W. Walker is a professional historian living in Salt Lake City, Utah. Formerly he served as a Professor of History at Brigham Young University. Walker is the author or editor of eight books and more than five dozen historical articles, dealing mainly with Western, Utah, and Mormon history. The Mormon History Association has recognized his work with a half dozen citations and awards, including its Best Book Award. He has served as President of the Mormon History Association. A native of Missouri, Montana, Walker was raised in American Midwest and the San Joaquin Valley in California. He has made his home in Salt Lake City for the past thirty-five years. He and his wife, Nelani Midgley Walker, are the parents of seven children and fifteen grandchildren.

Richard E. Turley Jr.

Richard E. Turley Jr. was appointed Assistant Church Historian and Recorder for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on March 12, 2008. Prior to this appointment, he served for eight years as managing director of the Church's Family and Church History Department, four years as managing director of the Family History Department, and fourteen years as managing director of the Church Historical Department. In these roles, he oversaw the Church Archives and Records Center, the Church History Library, the Museum of Church History and Art, and the Church's worldwide family history operations, which include numerous documentary microfilming and digital-imaging projects, the Family History Library, the Granite Mountain Records Vault, and FamilySearch.org. His book Victims: The LDS Church and the Mark Hofmann Case (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992) is an oft-cited history of the famous Hofmann forgery-murder case of the 1980s. He serves as a member of the executive committee of the Church Historian's Press, chairman of the editorial board for the Joseph Smith Papers project, and general editor of the Journals of George Q. Cannon Series.

Glen M. Leonard

Glen M. Leonard earned a Ph.D. in history and American studies at the University of Utah in 1970. He has worked as a journalist, a publications editor, and a research historian. He retired last year after twenty-six years as director of the Museum of Church History and Art in Salt Lake City. Leonard is author or coauthor of four books and numerous articles on Utah, the Mormons, and the American West. His comprehensive study Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, A People of Promise (2002) received the best book award from the John Whitmer Historical Association and a special merit citation from the Mormon Historical Association. Glen and his wife, Karen, live in Farmington, Utah. They have three sons and eight grandchildren.