Contributors

Daniel L. Belnap is an assistant professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University. He received a BA in international relations and an MA in ancient Near Eastern studies from BYU, as well as an MA and PhD in Northwest Semitics from the University of Chicago. He specializes in the Hebrew Bible, Ugaritic studies, and ritual studies. He has studied many languages including biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Ugaritic, German, French, and Greek.

J. Spencer Fluhman is assistant professor of history at Brigham Young University. He received a BA in Near Eastern studies from BYU, an MA and PhD in history from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He teaches and writes on Latter-day Saint and American religious history.

Steven C. Harper is an associate professor of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. He received his BA in history from BYU, an MA in American history from Utah State University and his PhD in early American history from Lehigh University. He taught religion and history at BYU–Hawaii before joining the faculty in Provo and becoming an editor of The Joseph Smith Papers in 2002.

Brian M. Hauglid is an associate professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, editor of Studies in the Bible and Antiquity, and general editor of the Studies in the Book of Abraham series. He received a BA in Near Eastern studies from BYU in 1984 and an MA and PhD in Arabic and Islamic studies from the University of Utah in 1991 and 1998 respectively. He specializes in Islamic origins and development; Qur’an and extraqur’anic medieval literature; and studies on the book of Abraham (Akedah, traditions, and so forth). He is also the author of A Textual History of the Book of Abraham: Manuscripts and Editions (2010).

Kent P. Jackson is a professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University. He received a BA in ancient studies from BYU and an MA and PhD in Near Eastern studies from the University of Michigan. He is the author of books and articles on ancient and modern scriptures, Latter-day Saint history, and the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible.

Daniel K Judd is a professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University. He received an MS in family science and a PhD in counseling psychology from Brigham Young University. He has been a seminary and institute instructor in Utah, Arizona, and Michigan and a professor of family science atBYU–Idaho. His research specialties are the relationship between mental health and religion and the psychology of religion.

Robert L. Millet is an Abraham O. Smoot University Professor and a professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University. Before joining the BYU faculty in 1983, he worked with LDS Social Services as a marriage and family counselor and with the Church Educational System as a religious instructor. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from BYU in psychology and his PhD from Florida State University in religious studies. He has served as chair of the Department of Ancient Scripture, dean of Religious Education, and Richard L. Evans Professor of Religious Understanding.

Kerry Muhlestein is an associate professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University. He received his BS in psychology with a Hebrew minor at BYU. He received an MA in ancient Near Eastern studies from BYU and his PhD from UCLA in Egyptology. His first full-time appointment was a joint position in religion and history at BYU–Hawaii. His research focuses on the texts and iconography of Egyptian religion, international contact between ancient Egypt and her neighbors, the Egyptian juridical process, Egyptian literature, and the overlap of the biblical and Egyptian worlds, including the ancient and modern history of the Pearl of Great Price.

Camille Fronk Olson is an associate professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University. She earned her BA in education, MA in ancient Near Eastern studies, and PhD in Middle Eastern studies. Before joining the faculty at BYU, she was the dean of students at LDS Business College. Her research centers on women in scripture, the Book of Mormon, historical and cultural influences on biblical people, the life and teachings of Christ, Near Eastern studies, and modern Palestinian families.

Ugo A. Perego is a senior researcher at the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation and a scientific consultant for GeneTree, both located in Salt Lake City. He is also an adjunct faculty in the Biology Department at the Salt Lake Community College. He received a BS (2000) and MS (2001) in health sciences from Brigham Young University and a PhD in genetics and biomolecular sciences (2010) from the University of Pavia (Italy). He has authored numerous articles on the use of DNA to research ancient population migrations, genealogies, and other historical events.

Brent L. Top is a professor of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. Before his appointment as department chair in June 2009, Dr. Top was the associate dean of Religious Education from 1997 to 2002 and held the endowed Professorship in Moral Education for two years before his call as president of the Illinois Peoria Mission (2004–7).His research specialties include Latter-day Saint youth and families, priesthood and Church government, and LDS doctrine.

John W. Welch is the Robert K. Thomas Professor of Law in the J. Reuben Clark Law School and editor in chief of BYU Studies. He received a BA in history and an MA in Latin and Greek from BYU, was awarded a Woodrow Wilson fellowship, studied Greek philosophy at Oxford, and received his JD from Duke. A frequent speaker, he has published extensively on law in the ancient Near East, the Bible and the Book of Mormon, and the legal papers of Joseph Smith. The founder of FARMS, he has served many years in sections of the Society of Biblical Literature.