Jeffrey R. Holland

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:Infobox Latter Day Saint biography

Jeffrey Roy Holland (born December 3, 1940) is an American educator and religious leader. He has been the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since October 14, 2025. He served as the ninth president of Brigham Young University (BYU) and was the acting president<ref name="newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org">Template:Cite web</ref> of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from November 15, 2023 until September 27, 2025 when the First Presidency was dissolved as a result of church president Russell M. Nelson's death. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Holland is accepted by the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator. Currently, he is the second most senior apostle in the church.<ref>Apostolic seniority is generally understood to include all ordained apostles (including the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Seniority is determined by date of ordination, not by age or other factors. If two apostles are ordained on the same day, the older of the two is typically ordained first. See Succession to the presidency and Template:Cite journal.</ref>

Holland was born and raised in St. George, Utah. After graduating from high school, his college education began at Dixie College and he also served as a missionary for the LDS Church in Great Britain. After returning from his mission, he transferred to BYU and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English. He later earned a master's degree in religious education at BYU. Holland received a second master's degree and later a PhD in American studies at Yale University. In 1974, Holland was appointed BYU's dean of religious education, then two years later he was appointed as the eleventh commissioner of the Church Educational System (CES), replacing Neal A. Maxwell. In 1980, Holland became BYU's ninth president, replacing Dallin H. Oaks.

Early life and education

Holland was born on December 3, 1940, in St. George, Utah. His father, Frank D. Holland, was a convert to the LDS Church while his mother, Alice, came from a long line of Latter-day Saints.<ref name= Searle>Template:Citation</ref> As a youth, he worked as a newspaper carrier, a grocery bagger, and a service station attendant.<ref name="Godfrey" /> As a young man, Holland served in what was then known as the British Mission. His mission president was Marion D. Hanks, a church general authority. He and Quentin L. Cook were missionary companions.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Holland graduated from Dixie High School in 1959. He helped the Flyers capture state high school championships in football and basketball.<ref name = Searle/> He began his college education at Dixie College before his mission. After returning from his mission, he served as co-captain of the Dixie basketball team.<ref name = Godfrey>Godfrey, Kenneth W. "Jeffrey R. Holland" in Garr, Arnold K., Donald Q. Cannon and Richard O. Cowan (eds.). Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 2000) p. 506.</ref> In 2011, the school broke ground for the Jeffrey R. Holland Centennial Commons Building, a building to honor both Holland and the school's 2011 centennial.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The completed building was dedicated in September 2012.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Holland transferred to BYU, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in English. He did graduate study in religious education, receiving a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in 1966 with a thesis on selected changes to the text of the Book of Mormon,<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref><ref name="QuinnHierarchy">Template:Cite book</ref> while also teaching religion classes part-time.<ref name = Searle/> After earning his master's degree, Holland became an Institute of Religion teacher in Hayward, California. He later worked as an institute director in Seattle, Washington. Holland then studied American studies at Yale University, where he received a second M.A. and a PhD in 1972.<ref>2003 Deseret News Church Almanac (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News, 2002, page 34).</ref> At Yale, Holland studied with American literary scholar and critic R. W. B. Lewis and authored a dissertation on the religious sense of Mark Twain.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> He was an instructor at the LDS Church's institute in Hartford while he was a student at Yale.

While studying at Yale, Holland served as a counselor in the presidency of the LDS Church's Hartford Connecticut Stake.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Leadership at BYU and CES

Holland served as an institute director in Salt Lake City after earning his PhD. He also served as director of the Melchizedek Priesthood MIA and as chair of the Young Adult Committee for the LDS Church.<ref name = Godfrey/><ref name="churchofjesuschrist.org">article on Holland's call as BYU President</ref> In 1974, at age 33, Holland was appointed Dean of Religious Education at BYU. As dean, Holland founded BYU’s Religious Studies Center and became its first director.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> From 1976 to 1980, he served as the eleventh commissioner of CES, replacing Neal A. Maxwell, who was called to the First Council of the Seventy.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During this time, Holland also served on the board of directors of both LDS Hospital and the Polynesian Cultural Center.<ref>July 1980 article on Holland's appointment to head BYU</ref>

In 1980, Holland was appointed to succeed Dallin H. Oaks as BYU's president. After a search committee was formed, as a favorite candidate of N. Eldon Tanner, First Counselor in the LDS Church's First Presidency, and the protégé of the chair of the executive committee of the BYU Board of Trustees, Gordon B. Hinckley, Holland was appointed less than two days later. As the church's commissioner of education at the time Oaks was released, Holland was supposed to compile a list of candidates to be the next BYU president. Instead, he was unexpectedly notified of the First Presidency's intention to make him president. After his appointment, rumors on campus cited the decision as "politically motivated".<ref name="bergera">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Before he arrived at BYU, Holland reduced the number of vice-presidents to four and increased the number of assistant and associate vice-presidents over academics.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp

Holland easily transitioned into the role of president. He was familiar with the president's duties, since he had worked closely with Oaks as the commissioner of education.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp He placed emphasis on upgrading programs and improving relationships with faculty rather than focusing on physical expansion of the campus.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp In order to supplement the school's funds, Holland launched a fundraiser called "Excellence in the Eighties" which sought to raise $100 million from 1982 to 1987.<ref name = Searle/> Specific funds were raised for student scholarships, academic programs, faculty salaries, and extension programs. He emphasized hiring more qualified faculty and purchasing more library and research materials. He supervised the building of the Crabtree Technology Building, but didn't promise more than ten new buildings during his presidency.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp

A significant achievement during Holland's presidency was the founding of the BYU Jerusalem Center.<ref name="archive" /> Also during his presidency, the BYU Center for International Studies was renamed the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies and had its role at BYU re-emphasized.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> There had been a large amount of debate about BYU's dress code throughout the previous administration. Holland clarified his support for dress code rules.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp Regarding violations of the Honor Code, if a student requested their names be removed from the church records, Holland instituted a policy in which they would have to receive special permission from the board of trustees in order to remain enrolled in school.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp

During Holland's presidency, the weekly independent student newspaper, The 7th East Press was shut down due to writing about controversial topics. However, student editor, Dean Huffaker, believed that Holland had tried to prevent them from being banned because Holland was conscious of public relations and didn't want to cause controversy. The students stated that they believed the ban came from one of the LDS Church's general authorities.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref>

Holland had the re-establishment of religious instruction as the "hub" of BYU's academics as one of his significant administrative goals. While he did not initiate any significant changes along these lines, his public communications regularly emphasized the importance of religious education.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp As BYU's president, Holland encouraged academic excellence in an atmosphere of faith. Holland emphasized that BYU could not do everything but would seek excellence in what it did choose to do.<ref name="archive">Template:Citation</ref>

Holland served as the president of the American Association of Presidents of Independent Colleges and Universities (AAPICU) and as a member of the NCAA's presidents' committee. He also received the "Torch of Liberty" award from the Anti-Defamation League.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

LDS Church service

Holland was called as a general authority and member of the First Quorum of the Seventy on April 1, 1989, bringing an end to his term as BYU's president.<ref name = desnews>2006 Deseret News Church Almanac (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News, 2005) p. 26</ref> As a member of the Seventy, Holland was a counselor in the general presidency of the church's Young Men organization from 1989 to 1990.

Prior to his call as a general authority, Holland served as bishop of a single adult ward in Seattle, as a counselor in the presidency of the Hartford Connecticut Stake,<ref name="Searle" /> and as a regional representative.<ref name = desnews/> He also served in the presidency of two other stakes and as a stake high councilor.<ref name="churchofjesuschrist.org"/>

From 1990 to 1993, Holland and his wife lived in Solihull, England, where he served as president of the church's Europe North Area.<ref>Church News 20 August 2020</ref>

On June 23, 1994, Holland was called and ordained as an apostle by new church president Howard W. Hunter. The vacancy was created by the death of Ezra Taft Benson and subsequent reorganization of the First Presidency. This timing differed from the typical sustaining of new apostles in a general conference and ordaining them afterward. Holland also met with the media on the day of his ordination.<ref>Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "News of the Church" section, Ensign, August 1994. Retrieved 14 April 2022.</ref> His call to the apostleship was subsequently ratified by the church during the October 1994 General Conference.

In 2000, Holland became the chair of the Missionary Curriculum Task Force which worked to develop Preach My Gospel.<ref>"History of the development of Preach My Gospel".</ref>

Holland lived in Santiago and served as president of the church's Chile Area from 2002 to 2004.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref>

In church general conferences in the fall of 2007 and spring of 2008, Holland gave sermons that directly answered accusations that Latter-day Saints are not Christians. At the April 2009 general conference, Holland gave a sermon about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the importance of Christ's statement, "my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me". This talk was later reformatted with music and put on a church website where it had been viewed over 500,000 times by August 2009.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

In 2012, Holland was the member of the Quorum of the Twelve with responsibility for the affairs of the LDS Church in Africa. Early in that year, he went to Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ghana to meet with members and missionaries. He also met with the Vice President of Sierra Leone, Samuel Sam-Sumana.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> In December 2012, Holland organized the LDS Church's 3,000th stake, located in Freetown, Sierra Leone.<ref>"Historic Milestone: Sierra Leone Stake Marks Church's 3000th", churchofjesuschrist.org.</ref><ref>"Historic milestone: Sierra Leone stake marks LDS Church's 3000th", Deseret News, December 2, 2012.</ref> On March 12, 2012, the Harvard Law School hosted Holland for a "Mormonism 101" series.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On June 10, 2015, he addressed the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Foreign Affairs in the House of Lords at the UK Parliament.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2016, Holland was keynote speaker at the Boy Scouts of America's (BSA) Duty to God breakfast, as part of his assignment as the LDS Church's chief BSA representative.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

From 2015 to 2023, among his other assignments, Holland served on the Church Board of Education and Boards of Trustees, where he also served as chairman of the Board's Executive Committee from January 2018 to May 2023.<ref>Church Education: About CES Administration, churchofjesuschrist.org. Retrieved 26 August 2017.</ref>

In November 2018, Holland spoke at a major inter-religious conference at Oxford University.<ref>article on Holland at Oxford</ref> During the same trip, Holland met with Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. This may have been the first official meeting of an LDS Church apostle and a British prime minister.<ref>article on Holland meeting May</ref>

In January 2019, Holland presided at the groundbreaking for the church's Urdaneta Philippines Temple. He also spoke at a multi-stake conference in the Philippines that week.<ref>Church News article on Urdeneta groundbreaking</ref> In 2020, as chairman of the executive committee of the BYU-Hawaii board of trustees, he announced the appointment of John S. K. Kauwe III as the institution's new president.<ref name=newsroomkauweappointment>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=kauweappointment>Template:Cite news</ref>

In August 2021, Holland spoke at BYU's annual conference for faculty and staff and the speech sparked controversy within the LGBTQ+ community.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the address,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Holland asked the faculty to defend the doctrine of the LDS Church, BYU's institutional sponsor, with the use of metaphorical "musket fire."<ref>Holland stated "we have to be careful that love and empathy do not get interpreted as condoning and advocacy or that orthodoxy and loyalty to principle not be interpreted as unkindness or disloyalty to people. As near as I can tell, Christ never once withheld His love from anyone, but He also never once said to anyone, “Because I love you, you are exempt from keeping my commandments.” We are tasked with trying to strike that same sensitive, demanding balance in our lives."</ref>

In April 2023, the church reported that Holland would take a two-month hiatus from service to focus on his health. He had been undergoing dialysis for a kidney issue and had also contracted COVID-19.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In early June, Holland began to gradually return to church service.<ref>Elder Holland Health Update, Newsroom, churchofjesuschrist.org, 6 June 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2023.</ref>

After the death of M. Russell Ballard on November 12, 2023, Holland was set apart as the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on November 15, 2023,<ref name="newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org"/> where he served until the death of church president Russell M. Nelson on September 27, 2025. On October 14, 2025, the First Presidency was reorganized, and Holland was set apart as quorum president by new church president Dallin H. Oaks.<ref name="Oaks Prophet' >Dallin H. Oaks Named 18th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Newsroom, 14 October 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2025.</ref>

Personal life

Holland and his wife, Patricia Terry, were married on June 7, 1963, in the St. George Temple.<ref name="elder">Template:Cite web</ref> They are the parents of three children.<ref name="general" /> Their oldest son, Matthew S. Holland, served as president of Utah Valley University from 2009 to 2018<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and has been a general authority since April 2020.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Their youngest son, David F. Holland, is the John A. Bartlett Professor of New England Church History and Interim Dean of Harvard Divinity School.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Patricia died on July 20, 2023, from causes incident to age and health.<ref>https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/patricia-terry-holland-obituary Patricia Terry Holland Passes Away, Newsroom, 20 July 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2023.</ref>

Works

Books

Template:Refbegin

Template:Refend

Speeches

Template:Refbegin

Template:Refend

Awards

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Further reading

Template:Commons category

Template:S-start Template:S-rel Template:Succession box Template:Succession box Template:S-aca Template:Succession box Template:S-end Template:Qof12 Template:LDSApostles Template:LDSyoungmen Template:Brigham Young University presidents Template:CEScommissioners

Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Jeffrey_R._Holland&oldid=523357"