G. Homer Durham

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George Homer Durham (4 February 1911–10 January 1985) was an academic administrator and was a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1977 until his death.

Durham was born in Parowan, Utah and was raised in Salt Lake City. As a young man, he served as a missionary for the LDS Church in the British Mission of the church, where he president of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association in the mission. Durham's mission president, Joseph F. Merrill, encouraged him to pursue graduate education when he returned to the United States. At the start of his mission, Durham's mission president was John A. Widtsoe. During this time Durham met Widtsoe's daughter Leah Eudora Widtsoe, whom he would later marry in the Salt Lake Temple.

Durham earned a Ph.D. and became the academic vice-president of the University of Utah. From 1960 to 1969, he was the president of Arizona State University. Under his presidency the university increased both in size and academic standing. From 1969 to 1976 he was the first commissioner and executive officer of the Utah System of Higher Education.

After he retired, Durham was asked to become a general authority of the LDS Church. He had previously served in the church as a stake president, as a member of the general board of the Sunday School, and as a Regional Representative of the Twelve Apostles. Durham became a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy in April 1977. In October 1981, Durham became a member of the Presidency of the Seventy and would remain in that position until his death. From 1982 to his death Durham was the church's seventeenth Church Historian and Recorder. He was succeeded in this position by Dean L. Larson.

Durham was a frequent contributor to the magazine Improvement Era and was the author or editor of a number of books, including compilations of the religious teachings of LDS church presidents John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Heber J. Grant, and David O. McKay.

Durham came from a musical family and he wrote the music to Gordon B. Hinckley's poem "My Redeemer Lives", which is now included as hymn #135 in the current hymnal of the LDS Church.

Durham and his wife were the parents of three children.

In 1994, Arizona State University renamed their Languages & Literatures Building the G. Homer Durham Languages & Literatures Building in Durham's honor.

Durham died in Salt Lake City. His personal and professional papers were donated to the University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library.

[edit] Publications

• G. Homer Durham (1944). A Political Interpretation of Mormon History (University of California Press)
• —— (1983). Arizona State University, 1960-1969: A Personal History
• —— (1958). Man as a Political Animal (Salt Lake City: University of Utah)
• —— (1982). N. Eldon Tanner, His Life and Service (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book)
• Heber J. Grant (G. Homer Durham ed.) (1941). Gospel Standards: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Heber J. Grant (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book)
• David O. McKay (G. Homer Durham ed.) (1953). Gospel Ideals: Selections from the Discourses of David O. McKay (Salt Lake City: Improvement Era)
• John Taylor (G. Homer Durham ed.) (1943). The Gospel Kingdom: Selections from the Writings and Discourses of John Taylor, Third President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book) ISBN 1570089418
• John A. Widtsoe (G. Homer Durham ed.) (1960). Evidences and Reconciliations
• Wilford Woodruff (G. Homer Durham ed.) (1946). The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, Fourth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft)

[edit] References

• Gordon A. Sabine (1992). G. Homer: A Biography of the President of Arizona State University, 1960–69 (Tempe, Arizona: Arizona State University)
• “Elder G. Homer Durham of the First Quorum of the Seventy,” Ensign, May 1977, 100–101

[edit] External links

• The G. Homer Durham Papers : complete inventory at the University of Utah
• Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages: G. Homer Durham
• "My Redeemer Lives" : free MP3 download of hymn written by Durham and Gordon B. Hinckley