Presiding Bishop Merrill J. Bateman of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been named the 11th president of Brigham Young University - the first general authority to lead the institution. He has also been called to the First Quorum of the Seventy.
President Gordon B. Hinckley, with his counselors in First Presidency, President Thomas S. Monson and President James E. Faust at his side, announced the choice Thursday morning from the Relief Society Room of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.President Hinckley introduced Elder Bateman and his wife, Marilyn, read a press release about the appointment and left for other business. "I leave you in the hands of these - your dear friends," President Hinckley quipped, referring to the media gathered for the news conference.
Elder Bateman, who has served on the search committee for a new president following the request for resignation from President Rex E. Lee five months ago, said he was told he probably "should have been at that last meeting."
"I really had no idea. Mine was not one of the three names I submitted," said Elder Bateman, who was called Tuesday to President Hinckley's office to receive the official nod.
Elder Bateman said he is excited about returning to Provo where he and his wife lived for 15 years prior to his call as a general authority.
He said the university will focus on teaching the student and be very clear about its mission to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Responding to several questions about academic freedom, faculty positions for women and possible changes in direction, Elder Bateman said, "The university is a church education institution that plays a large role in taking the gospel to the world. Church tithing funds are used in performing this work, so it's very important that the signals be very clear."
Elder Bateman said he is not aware of a former BYU president who was called at the time he was serving as a general authority. Elder Bateman will be released as presiding bishop of the church and has been called to the First Quorum of the Seventy. He said he does not believe there is "any greatsignificance to that except to indicate the importance of the university in regard to its role in teaching students."
The new president emphasized that the university will continue to pursue and enhance its image as a teaching university while still leaving faculty members room to pursue research in their individual areas.
"We believe faculty members should be able to express their honest views," said Elder Bateman. "But it's very important that members of the BYU community support and stand behind the principles and represent the values of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
Elder Bateman's appointment is effective Jan. 1, 1996, with President Lee's resignation effective Dec. 31, 1995.
Elder Bateman said he was "as surprised as anyone in the room" but looking forward to the opportunity to serve young people. He said efforts will be made to expand the educational opportunities of BYU either by electronic media or by the possible expansion of BYU-Hawaii. He applauded the college institute programs that offer the church's education to many places BYU cannot go.
"I was very glad to see all of the newest building projects approved at the last board of trustees meeting," he added. "That means I don't have to fight for them."
Born in Lehi on June 19, 1936, Elder Bateman earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Utah and a doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
His doctoral thesis on how farmers in Africa respond to economic price incentives took him to that continent many times over the years, including a short-term mission for the LDS Church in Ghana and Nigeria in 1978.
His first experience with teaching came at age 16, when he taught a Sunday School class in Utah County. While serving in the Air Force from 1964 to 1967, Elder Bateman was an associate professor at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Following his military service, he joined the BYU faculty as an associate professor of economics from 1967 to 1969 and returned from 1979 to 1981, during which time he served as professor, dean of the College of Business and dean of the School of Management and Graduate School of Management.
His academic honors include Phi Beta Kappa at the U., 1960; Woodrow Wilson Fellow, 1960-61; and Danforth Fellow, 1960-64.
He left BYU to accept an executive position with the M&M Mars Corp. in McLean, Va. He formed his own consulting and capital management firm in Orem in 1980.
Elder Batemen has served the church throughout his life, first as a missionary in the British Mission, 1956-58, and later as a high councilor and bishop of the BYU 8th Ward, member of the Reading District presidency in England, president of the Provo Utah Sharon East Stake and BYU 1st Stake, regional representative in the Orem Utah Southwest and Spanish Fork Utah regions, and second counselor in the Utah North Area Presidency.
On June 6, 1992, he was named to the Second Quorum of the Seventy. Two years later, he was sustained as the 12th presiding bishop of the church, succeeding Elder Robert D. Hales, who was called to the Council of the Twelve.
He and his wife, Marilyn Scholes Bateman, are the parents of seven children and have 16 grand-children.