Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies

The Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (ISPART) was established in 2001. Daniel Oswald served as the executive director from 2001-2003 and Noel B. Reynolds served from 2003 to 2006. In 2006, the BYU Board of Trustees renamed ISPART the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.

The Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts helped recover, preserve, study, and publish ancient documents. The institute was specifically interested in the Bible and its historical context, the manuscript sources of Eastern Christianity, and Book of Mormon scholarship. The Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (ISPART) was the administering body for the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), Center for the Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (CPART), Middle Eastern Texts Initiative (METI), and Research Technology Group. All divisions functioned under the direction of an executive director who acted in the same capacity as a Dean of an academic department.

The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) was established in 1979 as a non-profit organization by John. W. Welch. In 1997 FARMS was formally invited into Brigham Young University by President Gordon B. Hinckley. FARMS functioned as its own research foundation until 2001 when it became a part of the Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (ISPART). In 2006 it became a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship when ISPART changed names. Paul Y. Hoskisson has served as the foundation director since 2008. In 2010, the Foundation for Ancient Research was dissolved. The publication continued under the name of Mormon Studies Review.

The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies functions as a research and publication center that focuses on scholarly analysis of the Book of Mormon, the Book of Abraham, the Old Testament, the New Testament, early Christian history, and ancient temples.

From the guide to the Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts records, 1995-2002, (L. Tom Perry Special Collections)