BYU Research Institutes

Among research Institute connected with BYU in the present or past are and have been the following:

• BYU Center for Family History and Genealogy: The Center for Family History and Genealogy is a program dedicated to finding information on people's ancestors and teaching family history skills. It employees 14 students, 10 in the Immigrant Ancestors Project and 2 as research-assistants. It is currently directed by Kathryn Daynes who is a professor in the history department which is part of the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences. Besides the history department, other BYU departments that work with the Center for Family History include the School of Family Life, the College of Religious Education and the Department of Computer Sciences. The Center also works with the State Archives of Niedersachsen and the State Archives of Bavaria.^[1][2] The Center was organized in 2000 with Raymond S. Wright III as the first director. Later George Ryskamp was the director.^[3]
• Cancer Research Center: The BYU Cancer Research Center is an organization drawing on faculty and students from multiple colleges that seeks to find treatments and cures for various forms of cancer.^[4]
• The Charles Redd Center for Western Studies - Focuses on an inter-disciplinary study of the Intermountain United States. Primarily it focuses on history, geography, sociology and anthropology. The current holder of the endowed professorial chair connected with the institution is Ignacio Garcia a professor of late 20th century US and Hispanic people in the US history at BYU. The current director is Brian Q. Cannon, a BYU history prefessor with a specialty in early-20th century western United States agricultural history. The center was founded in 1972.^[5]
• DNA Sequence Center: This is a lab that sequences DNA for other BYU labs and the like. Its main purpose is to centralize DNA sequencing to reduce administrative costs, material costs and provide for efficient processing.^[6]
• Eyring Research Institute
• Institute of Computer Uses in Education. This organizations was formed in 1972 at BYU by people from BYU's Instructional Research Development Department and the University of Texas at Austin's CAI Laboratory. This group was contracted by MITRE Corporation to develop the instructional programs initual for English and math known as the TICCIT Project.^[7][8]
• Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History
• BYU Women's Research Institute: This was formed during the presidency of Dallin H. Oaks with Marilyn Arnold as the first head. It was an early sponsoring organization behind the BYU Women's Conference. However, this function was later shift to other organizations. In the fall of 2009 it was announced that most of the functions of the Women's Research Institute would be shifted to the Women's Studies Minor within the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences and at least initially planned to be specifically under the sociology department. This was partly a result of not being able to find someone to fill in in the place of Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill who had directed the institute for about two decades.^[9][10][11]
• FARMS/Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
• New World Archaeology Foundation
• BYU Religious Studies Center: The BYU Religious Studies Center facilitates research and publication in topics related to LDS Church history and doctrine.^[12]
• The University Archeology Society: The University Archeology Society was a research corporation at BYU from 1949 until 1956. In the latter year it became independent and was renamed the Society for Early Historic Archaeology.

Sources

1. ^ BYU Family History and Genealogy Center Website
2. ^ Mormon Times. Dec. 29, 2010
3. ^ Encyclopedia of Genealogy article on the BYU Center for Family History and Genealogy
4. ^ BYU Cancer Research Center web-page
5. ^ Redd Center Home Page
6. ^ BYU DNA Center website
7. ^ Ernest L. Wilkinson, ed., Brigham Young University: The First 100 Years. (Provo: BYU Press, 1976) Vol. 4, p. 85
8. ^ CALICO Journal Vol. 1, no. 3
9. ^ BYU announcement on reorganization of the women's studies program
10. ^ Daily Universe November 4, 2009 article on Women's Research Institute
11. ^ Square Two article on the Women's Research Institute
12. ^ BYU Religious Studies Center website