Professor Richard E. Bennett received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Brigham Young University and his PhD in American intellectual history from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He served as head of the Department of Archives and Special Collections at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, from 1978 to 1997 before joining the religious education faculty at BYU as a professor in the Department of Church History and Doctrine.
His research focuses on the Mormon exodus, Joseph Smith, Nauvoo, and the Church in the 19th century; he has authored several books and approximately 30 articles on Church history and doctrine. Professor Bennett has served as codirector of research at the Religious Studies Center since 2007 and is also academic editor of Church history for BYU Studies.
A native of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, Professor Bennett served in the Texas Mission from 1967 to 1969 and was a stake president in Winnipeg, Manitoba, from 1987 to 1996. He and his wife, Patricia Dyer, are the parents of five children.
