Franklin L. West

Franklin Lorenzo Richards West (1885-02-01–1966-10-21) was an American educator and a leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Born and raised in Ogden, Utah Territory, West was a professor of physics at the Utah Agricultural College, which is today Utah State University. For 28 years he was the dean of faculty at the school.

From 1935 to 1937, West was the second assistant to Albert E. Bowen, the head of the LDS Church's Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association. In 1936, he became the eighth Commissioner of Church Education, a position he held until he retired in 1953.

West was the author of five books, including three manuals for the Church Educational System and a biography of his maternal grandfather, LDS Church apostle Franklin D. Richards.

West was married to Gladys Spencer, a granddaughter of Brigham Young and a member of the prominet Thatcher Young family of Logan, Utah.^[1] They later divorced and West married Violet Madsen of Ogden. He died a widower at Cottonwood Heights, Utah. West was the grandson of Chauncey W. West a Mormon pioneer and prominent leader of the LDS Church in Weber County, Utah.

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v • d • e Commissioners of Church Education of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Maeser (1888–1901) • Tanner (1901–1905) • Cummings (1905–1920) • McKay (1920–1921) • Widtsoe (1921–1924) • Merrill (1928–1933) • Widtsoe (1934–1936) • West (1936–1953) • Wilkinson (1953–1970) • Maxwell (1970–1976) • Holland (1976–1980) • Eyring (1980–1986) • Cameron (1986–1989) • Eyring (1992–2004) • Kerr (2004– )