Conversations with Mormon Historians

The interviews in this volume tell the stories of remarkable men and women who have made careers out of researching, writing, and teaching about the past. Friends and colleagues conducted these conversations over a decade, and all were subsequently published in the Mormon Historical Studies journal of Religious Educator periodical. Now they are brought together as a single book of personal essays. As we review and reflect on the personal lives and remarkable careers featured in this volume, we sense that many of these historians feel they were prepared or given a definite sense of mission and professional calling that stretches well back in time.

ALEXANDER L. BAUGH was born and raised in Logan, Utah. He completed a master's degree at BYU in history in 1986 with an emphasis in western American and Mormon history. He became a full-time faculty member in Religious Education at bYU after completing his PhD in American history. In addition to his professorship, he also serves as a co-director of research for the Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University. Professor Baugh and his family reside in Highland, Utah.

REID L. NEILSON received his BA degree in international relations from Brigham Young University. After graduation he worked in strategy, finance, and economics around the world, including in Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. He earned graduate degrees in American history and business administration at Brigham Young University. In 2006 he completed his PhD in religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was named an International Studies Scholar for Tomorrow Fellow.