George H. Brimhall’s Legacy of Service to Brigham Young University

Franklin S. Harris, president of Brigham Young University from 1921 to 1945, said of his predecessor, George H. Brimhall (fig. 1), “George H. Brimhall, under a tree would make a university any day for where he teaches students will always gather to be taught.” Brimhall had two great causes, Harris said: his religion and the cause of education. From his youth to his old age, Brimhall carried these causes forward with unrelenting vigor. In his service as president of Brigham Young University (1904-1921), they merged into one: a university supported by, loyal to, and controlled by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He believed that Brigham Young University, as an arm of the Church, had greater potential than ay other university in the world.