Gary L. Browning

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Gary L. Browning is an American Russian language academic and was the first mission president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Born in St. Maries, Idaho, Browning was a missionary for the LDS Church in Finland as a young man.[1] Upon returning from his mission, he earned a bachelor's degree in Russian from Brigham Young University, a master's degree from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.[1] In 1969, Browning lived in Moscow for six months while he worked as a guide for a United States Information Agency exhibit.[1] In 1973, Browning returned to live in Russia for six months as he researched his Ph.D. dissertation.[1]

Browning spent two years as a member of the faculty of Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, and then joined the faculty of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah as a professor of Russian language and literature.[1] In the 1980s, he founded a Utah County chapter of Utahns Against the Nuclear Arms Race and became a peace activist.[1]

In July 1990, Browning was asked by the LDS Church to become the president of the newly-created Finland Helsinki East Mission of the church.[2] This mission was headquartered in Helsinki, but all its assigned missionaries preached in Russia, the Baltic states, and Ukraine.[2] At the time, there were small branches of the LDS Church in Leningrad, Tallinn, Vyborg, and Moscow.[2] The Leningrad Branch was the first LDS Church congregation to receive official recognition within Russia.[2] Browning is recognized by the LDS Church as the first mission president in Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltic states.[3]

In February 1992, the Finland Helsinki East Mission was dissolved and divided into the Russia Moscow Mission, the Russia St. Petersburg Mission, and the Ukraine Kiev Mission; Browning became the first president of the Moscow Mission and served in this capacity until July 1993.[2]

After his mission service, Browning returned as a faculty member of Brigham Young University.[1] He served two terms as the chair of the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages.[1] He retired and is a professor emeritus of BYU.[4]

[edit] Publications and speeches

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Mary Lynn Johnson, "Making Peace", BYU Magazine, Winter 2000.
  2. ^ a b c d e Kahlile Mehr, “1989–90: The Curtain Opens,” Ensign, Dec. 1993, 36.
  3. ^ 2008 Deseret Morning News Church Almanac (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Morning News, 2007).
  4. ^ Gary L. Browning, BYU faculty page.