Jill Mulvay Derr was born on 8 September 1948. She was an American history professor at Brigham Young University and the director of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History, as well as the president of the Mormon History Association. Sister Derr is married to C. Brooklyn Derr; they are the parents of four children. Jill Mulvay Derr holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah and an MA in teaching from Harvard University.