REXBURG, Idaho — BYU-Idaho President Clark Gilbert will be installed formally as the 16th president of an expanding university Sept. 15.
The former Deseret News CEO and Harvard Business School professor took office in April, days after the end of a semester with 16,738 students — the largest enrollment in the university's history.
Enrollment was up again in May for the spring term compared to the previous year. In another sign of growth, the reach of BYU-Idaho's online and Pathway programs grew 51 percent from 2014 to 2015. The Pathway program has 430 locations in 19 countries.
The inauguration will begin at 2:10 p.m. in the BYU-Idaho Center and will be streamed live at www.byui.edu/president/inauguration.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will preside at the inauguration. President Uchtdorf is the second vice chairman of the BYU-Idaho Board of Trustees.
Gilbert was the president and CEO of Deseret News Publishing Company and Deseret Digital Media as well as executive vice president of Deseret Management Company in Salt Lake City before taking over at BYU-Idaho.
Before moving to the Deseret News, Gilbert had served as BYU-Idaho's Assistant Vice President of Student Life, Managing Director of Student Activities and then as Associate Academic Vice President, overseeing online learning and the Pathway program.
Gilbert earned a bachelor's degree at BYU and a master's degree from Stanford. After he earned a doctorate in business administration at Harvard, he became a professor of entrepreneurial management at Harvard Business School.
Four recent past presidents of BYU in Provo, Utah — all of them LDS Church leaders —attended the inauguration last fall of new President Kevin Worthen.
Recent past presidents of BYU-Idaho, previously Ricks College, also include a number of church leaders — President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency; Elder Bruce C. Hafen and Elder Joe J. Christensen, both emeritus General Authorities; Steven D. Bennion, president of the Manhattan New York Temple; Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Elder Kim B. Clark, the new commissioner of Church Education.
Email: twalch@deseretnews.com