Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies
The Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies sponsors scholarly research and publications on the Book of Mormon and seeks to increase understanding and appreciation for this ancient scriptural text in the world today.
The Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies was established in April 2007, under the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. It supports an interdisciplinary approach with attention to literary, historical, religious, political, military, legal, social, economic, theological, and basic textual concerns of the Book of Mormon. It sponsors studies on the life of the Book of Mormon as a text—from inception to transmission and reception—from the ancient world through the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In addition to publishing the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, the Willes Center also sponsors conferences, workshops, lectures, and symposia with other major universities.
When announcing the formation of the center, President Cecil O. Samuelson said: “The Willes Center, as it has already come to be known, will form an integral part of BYU’s Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship,” he said.
Mark Willes, the former CEO of Times-Mirror, noted the counsel from President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he received his call to serve as a mission president: “Just read the Book of Mormon.” That counsel, and a lifetime of devoted reading in the book, helped spark Willes’s interest in founding a center whose purpose would be to encourage and support the pursuit of research on this volume of scripture.
He chose to name it for his wife, Laura F. Willes, who, he said, “has taught our children and our grandchildren and our missionaries to love the scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon.”
In her response, Laura Willes said that the idea came as a complete surprise to her, especially because she prefers to remain out of the spotlight. But, she said, she hopes that she represents “all of the brothers and sisters in the Church and all of the men and women in the world who desperately need the Book of Mormon and its teachings.”
Elder Oaks commented: “It’s a remarkable combination to have the resources, the inspiration of what to do with them and the faith to do it, and that’s the story of Mark and Laura Willes in bringing this Willes Center to Brigham Young University.”