Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies

The Jerusalem Center is Brigham Young University's center for study in Jerusalem. Students enroll through the BYU campus in Provo, Utah, travel to the Holy Land, and live in the Center for programs that extend for two, four, or five months. Students study a core curriculum that focuses on Old and New Testament, ancient and modern Near Eastern studies, and language (Hebrew and Arabic). Classroom study is built around field trips that cover the length and breadth of the Holy Land. A study abroad program to Israel was established in January 1968 with students housed in various hotels, youth hostels and kibbutzim throughout the city. The Jerusalem Center was completed and occuppied in 1988.

See biographies in register for: Spencer W. Kimball (1895-1985), Howard W. Hunter (1907-1995), James E. Faust (1920- ), Jeffrey R. Holland (1940- ), David B. Galbraith (1937- ), Teddy Kollek (1911- ), Fred A. Schwendiman (1919- ), Ray C. Hillam (1928- ), and Martin B. Hickman (1925- ).

The Jerusalem Center is Brigham Young University's center for study in Jerusalem. Students enroll through the BYU campus in Provo, Utah, travel to the Holy Land, and live in the Center for programs that extend for two, four, or five months. Students study a core curriculum that focuses on Old and New Testament, ancient and modern Near Eastern studies, and language (Hebrew and Arabic). Classroom study is built around field trips that cover the length and breadth of the Holy Land. A study abroad program to Israel was established in January 1968 with students housed in various hotels, youth hostels and kibbutzim throughout the city. The Jerusalem Center was completed and occupied in 1988.

See biographies in register for: Spencer W. Kimball (1895-1985), Howard W. Hunter (1907-1995), James E. Faust (1920- ), Jeffrey R. Holland (1940- ), David B. Galbraith (1937- ), Teddy Kollek (1911- ), Fred A.Schwendiman (1919- ), Ray C. Hillam (1928- ), and Martin B. Hickman (1925- ).

Spencer W. Kimball:

Spencer Woolley Kimball was born 28 March 1895 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah, to Andrew Kimball and Olive Woolley. He married Camilla Eyring on 16 November 1917 and they had four children. He was ordained an apostle on 7 October 1943, by Heber J. Grant, at age 48. He was set apart as acting president of the Quorum of the Twelves Apostles on 23 January 1970. He was later set apart as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 30 December 1973, at age 78. He died on 5 November 1985, in Salt Lake, Salt Lake County, Utah, at age 90.

Howard W. Hunter:

Howard William Hunter was born on 14 November 1907, in Boise, Ada Co., Idaho to John William Hunter and Nellie Marie Rasmussen. He married Clara (Claire) May Jeffs on 10 June 1931. They had three children, one of which died in infancy. Clara died 9 October 1983. He married Inis Bernice Egan 12 April 1990. He was ordained an Apostle on 15 October, by David O. McKay, at age 51. Following this calling, he was set apart as acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 10 November 1985, then later president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on 2 June 1988. On 5 June 1994, at age 86, he was set apart as president of the Church. He died on 3 March 1995 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah, at age 87.

James E. Faust:

President James Esdras Faust was born 31 July 1920, in Delta, Utah, a son of George A. and Amy Finlinson Faust. He and his wife, Ruth Wright Faust, are parents of five children and have 23 grandchildren. President Faust was set apart as second counselor to President Gordon B. Hinckley on12 March 1995, after serving as an apostle for 16 years. He was sustained an Assistant to the Twelve on 6 October 1972, and to the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy 1 October 1976. He was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve 30 September 1978, and ordained an apostle 1 October 1978, at age 58. While serving as a General Authority, he was a managing director of the Melchizedek Priesthood Department, director of Welfare Services, zone adviser over South America and president of the International Mission.

President Faust has served as a regional representative, stake president, and bishop, and filled a mission in Brazil from 1939-42. He served in the Air Force during World War II. Afterward, he graduated from the University of Utah with a B.A. and juris doctorate in 1948. An attorney, he practiced law in Salt Lake City until being called as a General Authority. He is a former Utah state legislator and was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights and Racial Unrest. He was advisor to the American Bar Journal, president of Utah Bar Association and was a member of the Utah State Constitutional Revision Commission. In 1995, he was given the Minuteman Award by the Utah National Guard, and in 1996, he was given the Distinguished Lawyer Emeritus Award by the Utah Bar Association.

Jeffrey R. Holland:

Jeffrey Roy Holland was born on 3 December 1940, in St. George, Utah, a son of Frank D. and Alice Bentley Holland. He married Patricia Terry Holland and are the parents of three children. He was sustained to the First Quorum of the Seventy on April 1, 1989, while serving as president of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. A few years later, he was ordained an apostle on June 23, 1994, at age 53, and then later sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Oct. 1, 1994. He was a former Church commissioner of education and director or instructor at many institutes of religion. He received a bachelor's degree in English and master's degree in religious education from Brigham Young University, and received a master's degree and doctorate in American studies from Yale University.

David B. Galbraith:

David Brian Galbraith was born 5 July 1937 in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada to Bruce Van and Beth Heninger Galbraith. He grew up in Raymond, Alberta, Canada and then left for one year of schooling at BYU before serving a mission in the Swiss-Austrian mission. He later returned to BYU and graduated with a BA in political science.

On 1 June 1963, he married Frieda Kruger (from Amsterdam, Holland) in the Alberta Temple. They met each other on an Israeli kibbutz where they were both studying Hebrew. Later, he obtained a MA in international relations also from BYU and Frieda obtained a BA in languages and a teaching certificate. They moved to Ottawa where he was employed in the department of foreign affairs. In 1969, they returned to Israel where he obtained a Ph.D. in international relations from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Frieda obtained her MA in Jewish Studies and Hebrew from the Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem.

Dr. Galbraith and his family lived in Jerusalem for 20 years where Professor Galbraith directed an American “study-abroad” program for Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. He was the director of the Jerusalem Center for 15 of the 20 years that they lived in Jerusalem and served as the first director of the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. His responsibilities included heading the Israel-based team that developed and constructed a multi-million dollar educational center in Jerusalem in support of this program, liaison with various departments within the government of Israel such as the departments of education, department of police and security, department of external affairs, department of justice, the interior committee for visas, department of finance, and most importantly, the prime minister's office. Much of his time in Israel was devoted to public relations, communal peace, and tranquility. Professor Galbraith is first and foremost an educator.

In 1989, he returned to teach at BYU as an associate professor of political science. He was called to serve as a stake president of the BYU 13th stake until he was called as a mission president to the Bulgaria Sofia mission (July 2000-July 2003), which also includes, Serbia, Macedonia, and Turkey. The Galbraith’s have 5 children and 12 grandchildren.

Teddy Kollek:

Theodore Kollek was born 27 May 1911, in Vienna, Austria, to Alfred and Margaret Kollek. He married Tamar Schwartz in May, 1936. They had two children, Amos and Osnat. Kollek served in the Israeli Defense Army and became a lieutenant colonel. He settled in Palestine in 1934 and became a founder-member of Kibbutz Ein Gev in Galilee in 1937. In 1938, he returned to Europe on an educational mission to Zionist youth groups until 1940. He served on the staff of the political department, Jewish Agency for Palestine, from 1940 to 1947. Kollek then became the head of the U.S. desk of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In 1952, he became director-general of the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem. His term as mayor of the municipality of Jerusalem began in 1965. He has also served in many other Israeli governmental positions.(Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2000.)

Fred A. Schwendiman

Fred Austin Schwendiman was born 26 May 1919, in Auckland, New Zealand, where his parents were serving a mission for the Church. He was raised however, in Salt Lake where he attended South High School and the University of Utah, graduating from both before serving his mission to Great Britain in 1938. In November 1941, Fred married Winona Denhalter, and they are the parents of three children and many grandchildren. In 1943, he was commissioned an ensign in the Supply Corps of the U.S. Navy and served with the Seabees in the South Pacific. He held the rank of Captain in the Naval Reserve when he retired in 1976.

In 1953, Fred began working for Brigham Young University and he remained there until his retirement. In 1967, he became the director of Auxiliary Services and in 1971, Assistant Vice-President for business. He assumed responsibility for the physical facilities of the Church Educational System in 1974 in addition to his duties as Assistant Vice-President. In 1979, he became the Support Services Vice-President.

Ray C. Hillam:

Ray C. Hillam was born 25 July 1928, in Carlin, Nevada. He is an American political scientist, educator, and author. Hillam was an intelligence analyst for the U.S. government from 1955 to 1958. In 1960, he began teaching at Brigham Young University, becoming a professor of political science in 1971. Hillam was also a Fulbright-Hays professor in Vietnam and da Fulbright-Hays senior scholar in China. (Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2000.)

Martin B. Hickman

Martin Berkeley Hickman was born 16 May 1925, in Utah. He married JoAnn Emmett and they had six children. He received his Bachelor of Science degree, with honors, from the University of Utah in 1951, his Master’s Degree in 1952, and his Ph.D. in 1954. He has served in the U.S. Department of State, as consular and economic officer in Germany and in Hong Kong. He has worked as an associate professor of international relations and as a professor of political science. In 1970, Hickman became dean of the College of Social Sciences at Brigham Young University. (Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2000.)