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REXBURG, Idaho — BYU-Idaho is getting a new president.
Elder Alvin F. "Trip" Meredith III, 52, a general authority seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will replace President Henry J. Eyring, 59, on Aug. 1.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles made the announcement Tuesday during a campus devotional.
"I have known Elder Meredith since he was a teenager, and my admiration for him only grows as time passes," Elder Christofferson said as he introduced the new president and his wife, Jennifer Meredith.
"You're going to love them," Elder Christofferson told thousands of students gathered in the BYU-Idaho Center.
What will Elder Henry J. Eyring do next?
Elder Eyring, who is an area seventy, will return to Provo and BYU's Marriott School of Business, where he previously served as director of the MBA program, Elder Christofferson said. He has been asked to develop a Christ-centered leadership curriculum and teach graduate and undergraduate students, Elder Christofferson said.
The apostle said Elder Eyring's six-year tenure was "outstanding."
"On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I express deep gratitude and love to President Henry J. and Sister Kelly Eyring for their exceptional service."
Students, faculty and staff gave Eyring a minutelong standing ovation for his service.
Elder Eyring's father, President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, and other church leaders had charged Eyring with growing BYU-Idaho's numbers. During his tenure, fall enrollment grew from 17,000 students to more than 24,000 students.
Elders Meredith and Eyring recently worked together in their ecclesiastical roles to reorganize a Latter-day Saint stake presidency in Rexburg. The incoming president praised the outgoing president in his first comments to the campus community.
"Following the announcement of his presidency, President Eyring said that he would stand on the shoulders of giants who preceded him," Elder Meredith said. "He is now one of those giants of this great university and it is a blessing and privilege to stand on his shoulders."
In addition to his leadership of the university, Elder Eyring became known for his public contributions to the national conversation surrounding innovation in higher education. With the late Harvard Business professor Clayton M. Christensen, Elder Eyring wrote "The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out," which drew on BYU-Idaho as an example of delivering quality education at a reduced price point.
Last year, alongside the presidents of Yeshiva University and Baylor University, and others, Elder Eyring contributed an essay on the topic of religious higher education and innovation for Deseret Magazine.
Elder Meredith will become the 18th president of Ricks College and BYU-Idaho.
He currently is serving in the Middle East/Africa North Area Presidency.
Elder Meredith was in Rexburg three months ago, when he was the BYU-Idaho devotional speaker. He shared a pattern for revelatory decision-making he observed in how church leaders call new stake presidents — pray and fast, study it out, counsel with trusted people, decide and pray and listen for confirmation.
Elder Meredith served as an area seventy for the church in his native Tennessee and in Hong Kong, where he was stationed with his wife, Jennifer Edgin Meredith, and six children for a work assignment.
Who is Elder Alvin F. Meredith III?
- Elder Meredith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on July 22, 1970, to Alvin Frazier Meredith Jr. and Mary Smartt Meredith. He married Jennifer Denise Edgin on June 6, 1998, in the Salt Lake Temple. They have six children.
- He served in the Utah Salt Lake City Mission as a young man. He was president of the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission when he was called as a general authority seventy on April 3, 2021.
- During his business career, he worked for GE Capital, Boston Consulting Group and Asurion.
- He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Brigham Young University in 1994 and an MBA from the University of Chicago in 2001.
The time Elder Meredith lost a sports award because of his faith
A group of Christian student-athletes at his Tennessee high school elected him to be their president when he was a junior. The group's state leaders rejected him because they didn't recognize Latter-day Saints as Christian. The school later relented.
However, as a senior, he won the group's male athlete of the year award, only to have the state organization reject it again. A representative came to the school to inform him and explained 10 points of doctrine he felt justified the decision to disqualify Elder Meredith.
"I had a really good seminary teacher," Meredith told the Church News, "so we turned to the scriptures and looked at each of those 10 points. We went to Chronicles and James and the Book of Revelation and Corinthians.
"That man was not persuaded, but I was. My faith was challenged, and through the fire of that challenge, it was strengthened and has never wavered since."
Recent presidential changes at Latter-day Saint schools
Elder Clark G. Gilbert, commissioner of Church Education, also attended the devotional, as did R. Kelly Haws, secretary to the BYU-Idaho board of trustees.
Leadership at four of the church's five colleges and universities has turned over in the last two years.
- John "Keoni" Kauwe replaced John Tanner at BYU-Hawaii in July 2020.
- Brian K. Ashton took over for Elder Gilbert as president of BYU-Pathway Worldwide in August 2021.
- Shane Reese replaced Kevin J Worthen at BYU earlier this month.
Elder Christofferson said BYU-Idaho would recognize more of Elder Eyring's accomplishments at BYU-Idaho during July commencement exercises, before Elder Meredith takes the reins of the university on Aug. 1.
Elder Christofferson said Elder Eyring and his wife, Sister Kelly Eyring, "have inspired, taught and provided an exemplary model for each of you and this entire community.
"President Eyring has lifted those around him with his leadership, deep commitment to you students and ongoing efforts to preserve and strengthen the culture and spirit of this great university," Elder Christofferson said.
