Biography
J. B. Haws is the Executive Director of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship and a professor of Church History and Doctrine at BYU. He is the author of The Mormon Image in the American Mind: Fifty Years of Public Perception (Oxford, 2013) and holds a PhD in American History from the University of Utah. His research centers on the religious landscape of twentieth- and twenty-first-century America, including public perceptions of Latter-day Saints, trends in contemporary Latter-day Saint historical scholarship, and interfaith engagement. He previously coordinated BYU’s Office of Religious Outreach (2016–2018) and, before joining the BYU faculty, taught seminary in Salt Lake and Weber Counties. He also served a Spanish-speaking mission in Raleigh, North Carolina.
He is a native of what pioneer-era Utahns called “Muskrat Springs” (now Hooper); when you grow up in a town like that, how could you not be interested in history?
He and his wife, Laura, are the parents of three sons and a daughter, and they live in Provo.
Education
- PhD, American History , Latin American History; Anthropology, University of Utah (2010)
- MA, Religious Education , Brigham Young University (2003)
- Bachelor of Integrated Studies, History; Mathematics; Spanish , Weber State University (1997)
Honors and Awards
- Inaugural Smith-Pettit Dissertation Award in Mormon History, Smith-Pettit Foundation (2012 - 2012)