Wheelwright, Lorin Farrar, 1909-1987

Lorin F. Wheelwright was born in Ogden, Utah on December 20, 1909. He earned a doctorate in music from Columbia, and worked at the Oswego State Teachers College in New York, in the Salt Lake City schools, and as head of the Coordinating Council of Higher Education for the state of Utah. Between 1967 and 1974 he served as Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Brigham Young University. At the conclusion of his tenure he was appointed to lead the Centennial Celebration Committee. Lorin Wheelwright died on November 4, 1987 in Provo, Utah.

Lorin Farrar Wheelwright (1909-1987) was a Mormon educator, composer, musician, and administrator in Utah.

Lorin Farrar Wheelwright was born on December 20, 1909 in Ogden, Utah to David S. and Valborg Rasmussen Wheelwright. He showed an early talent for music, and studied under Edward P. Kimball and Alexander Schreiner. He later expanded his training attending Columbia University and the Juilliard School of Music in New York. He earned a master's degree at the University of Chicago, and a doctorate from Columbia University. Among the works he composed are many hymns that remain in the Latter-day Saint hymnbook.

Wheelwright worked at a variety of institutions in Utah and New York, including the Oswego State Teacher's College (now State University of New York at Oswego), the Branch Agricultural College (now Southern Utah University), Brigham Young University, and the Salt Lake Public Schools. He later left education to form his own music publishing company, Wheelwright Lithographing Company. He also served in the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a member of the Sunday School General Board from 1956 to 1971, and as associate editor of the Church publication The Instructor.

In 1967 he was recruited to serve as dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications at Brigham Young University. During his tenure the faculty of the college was expanded, and the curriculum modified to focus on professional preparation. He also helped reorganize the Daily Universe as a student laboratory newspaper, produced college-oriented recordings for Church-wide distribution, and established the Mormon Arts Festival. Following his retirement in 1972 he was appointed to the university's Centennial Celebration Committee.

Wheelwright married Ila Eugenia Spilsbury in 1933 in St. George, Utah. Together they had four children. He passed away on November 4, 1987 in Provo, Utah.