Gordon Axel Madsen (born July 3, 1929) is a former state legislator and assistant attorney general in Utah. He is currently working as a co-editor of the business and legal papers in the

Joseph Smith Papers Project ''The Joseph Smith Papers'' (or Joseph Smith Papers Project) is a documentary editing project to collect, research, and publish all documents created by, or under the direction of, Joseph Smith (1805–1844), the founder of the Latter Day Saint m ...

. Madsen is married to Carol Cornwall Madsen. Madsen was born to Axel A. Madsen and his wife the former Emily Wells Grant in Salt Lake City. His mother died about two weeks after his birth. He was raised by his father, his grandparents Heber J. Grant and wife Augusta Winters (his mother's step-mother) and various six sisters of his mother and their families, all living within just a few houses of each other in the Avenues section of Salt Lake City. Madsen is the younger brother of noted Latter-day Saint scholar and philosopher

Truman G. Madsen Truman Grant Madsen (December 13, 1926 – May 28, 2009) was an American professor of religion and philosophy at Brigham Young University (BYU) and director of the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. He was a pro ...

. Madsen has B.S. and J.D. degrees from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

. Early in his career, he served as a district attorney and then assistant attorney general in Utah. He served in the latter position from 1959 to 1964. From 1969 to 1971, Madsen served as a Republican member of the

Utah House of Representatives The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district cont ...

. Madsen in 1990 and 2004, published articles in ''

BYU Studies ''BYU Studies'' is a multidisciplinary academic journal covering a broad array of topics related to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( Mormon studies). It is published by the church-owned Brigham Young University. The journal is abs ...

'' about trials involving

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...

. Madsen has also worked as an adjunct faculty member at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

's J. Reuben Clark Law School.J. Reuben Clark Law School adjunct faculty bio
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Sources

External links

Joseph Smith papers project contributors bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madsen, Gordon A. 1929 births Living people Brigham Young University faculty district attorneys in Utah Latter Day Saints from Utah Republican Party members of the Utah House of Representatives S.J. Quinney College of Law alumni University of Utah alumni Utah lawyers 20th-century members of the Utah Legislature