Russell Trent Osguthorpe (born December 4, 1946) is an American professor of education and was the 20th general president of the
Sunday School
A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West.
S ...
of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...
(LDS Church) from 2009 to 2014.
Osguthorpe was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and went on to receive multiple degrees, including a Ph.D., from Brigham Young University (BYU), where he was a professor of Educational psychology, Instructional Psychology and Instructional technology, Technology until he retired in 2013.
Osguthorpe also studied at the University of Utah.
Osguthorpe wrote ''Choose to Learn: Teaching for Success Every Day'' and ''Balancing the Tensions of Change''. He has also written materials on deaf education. Osguthorpe was the lead author of ''Partner School: Centers for Educational Renewal'' and this book is often cited as one of the leading works on the subject. Osguthorpe wrote and article with his son, Richard D. Osguthorpe, entitled "Instructional Design as a Living Practice: Toward a Conscience of Craft".
Osguthorpe was the director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at BYU. He has also served as an associate Dean (education), dean of BYU's David O. McKay School of Education.
He was previously a visiting faculty member at the University of Toronto and the University of Paris and a member of the faculty of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, New York. Since 1998, Osguthorpe has held the Martha Jane Knowlton Coray University Professorship at BYU.
LDS Church service
Osguthorpe has served in the LDS Church as Mission president, president of the South Dakota Rapid City, South Dakota, Rapid City Mission (LDS Church), Mission from 2003 to 2006, an area seventy and member of the Seventy (LDS Church)#Area Seventies Quorums formed (Third–Twelfth Quorums), Fifth Quorum of the Seventy from 2007 to 2009, and stake president, president of the BYU 18th Stake (Latter Day Saints), Stake from 1997 to 2002. He is a former member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. In the 1960s, Osguthorpe was a Mormon missionary in Tahiti.
At the church's April 2009 General Conference (LDS Church), General Conference Osguthorpe was Common consent (Latter Day Saints), accepted by the membership as the general president of the church's Sunday School, succeeding A. Roger Merrill. Osguthorpe selected David M. McConkie and Matthew O. Richardson as his counselors. Osguthorpe spoke on submitting one's will to the Lord at a 2013 Church Educational System devotional for young adults originating in the Marriott Center on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah.
In the April 2014 General Conference, Osguthorpe and his counselors were released, with Tad R. Callister named as his successor. Later in 2014, Osguthorpe began an anticipated 3-year assignment as temple president, president of the church's Bismarck North Dakota Temple.
Personal life
Osguthorpe and his wife, Lolly, are the parents of five children. He has also written a hymn with his wife.
Deseret Book hymn by Osguthorpe
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Bibliography
*''Partner School: Centers for Educational Renewal'' (Jossey-Bass Publishers, March 28, 1995, )
*''The Education of the Heart: Rediscovering the Spiritual Roots of Learning'' (Covenant Communications Inc, September 1, 1996, )
*''Balancing the Tensions of Change: Eight Keys to Collaborative Educational Renewal'' (Corwin, September 28, 1998)
*''Choose to Learn: Teaching for Success Every Day'' (Skyhorse, October 6, 2015, )
References
External links
General Authorities and General Officers: Russell T. Osguthorpe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osguthorpe, Russell T.
1946 births
20th-century Mormon missionaries
21st-century Mormon missionaries
American Latter Day Saint hymnwriters
American Mormon missionaries in the United States
Area seventies (LDS Church)
Brigham Young University alumni
Brigham Young University faculty
General Presidents of the Sunday School (LDS Church)
Living people
Tabernacle Choir members
Mission presidents (LDS Church)
American Mormon missionaries in French Polynesia
Rochester Institute of Technology faculty
University of Paris faculty
University of Utah alumni
American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Temple presidents and matrons (LDS Church)
Latter Day Saints from Utah
Latter Day Saints from North Dakota