Patrick Mason, head of Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University, is trading his post in balmy Southern California for the snowy climes of northern Utah.
The Arrington Chair, the first such Mormon studies professorial chair in the world, is housed in USU’s religious studies program within the history department.
“It’s kind of exciting to think about teaching and researching Mormon history at a state institution with thousands of [Latter-day Saint] undergraduates,” said Mason, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “after teaching at a very expensive private school with a handful of graduate students.