Neilson, Reid L. 1972–

(Reid Larkin Neilson)

PERSONAL:

Born September 6, 1972, in Glendale, CA; son of Ralph (a real estate developer) and Katherine Larkin (a homemaker) Neilson; married Shelly Anderson (a homemaker), August 3, 2002; children: John Ralph and Katherine Avery. Education: Studied at Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, 1994; Brigham Young University, B.A., 1996, M.A., 2001, M.B.A., 2002; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ph.D., 2006.

ADDRESSES:

Office— Brigham Young University, 270-T Joseph Smith Bldg., Provo, UT 84602. E-mail— [email protected].

CAREER:

Academician and religious studies scholar. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, teaching, research, and instructional assistant, 2002-04; Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, part-time instructor, 2005, assistant professor of church history and doctrine, 2006—. International Studies Scholar for Tomorrow fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School, 2002; Archive of Restoration fellow at Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History, 2001; National Olympic Committee Assistant, 2001-02; research assistant at the Asia-Pacific Human Resources Partnership of the University of Michigan Business School, Ann Arbor, and Hong Kong, China, 2001; summer associate of the Walt Disney Enterprises, Tokyo, Japan, 1999; consultant for the Arthur Anderson Strategy, Economics, and Financial Consulting Division, Los Angeles, CA, and London, England, 1996-98; missionary representative at the Japan Sapporo Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hokkaido, Japan, 1991-93.

MEMBER:

American Academy of Religion, American Society of Church History, Association for Asian Studies, Association for Documentary Editing, American Historical Association, John Whitmer Historical Society, Mormon Historical Association, and Mormon Pacific Historical Society.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Geraldine McBride Woodward prize, Mormon History Association, 2006, for Taking the Gospel to the Japanese, 1901-2001; Phi Alpha Theta; Sigma Iota Rho; recipient of numerous research grants.

WRITINGS:

Peter Neilson, Sr.: A Life of Consecration, Community Press (Provo, UT), 1997.

(Editor, with Jed Woodworth) Richard Lyman Bushman,Believing History: Latter-day Saint Essays, Columbia University Press (New York, NY), 2004.

(Editor) Rodney Stark,The Rise of Mormonism, Columbia University Press (New York, NY), 2005.

(Editor, with Dean L. May)The Mormon History Association's Tanner Lectures: The First Twenty Years, University of Illinois Press (Urbana, IL), 2006.

(Editor, with Van C. Gessel)Taking the Gospel to the Japanese, 1901-2001, Brigham Young University Press (Provo, UT), 2006.

(Editor, with Ronald W. Walker)Reflections of a Mormon Historian: Leonard J. Arrington on the New Mormon History, essays by Leonard J. Arrington, Arthur H. Clark (Norman, OK), 2006.

(Editor, with Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp)Proclamation to the People: Nineteenth-Century Mormonism and the Pacific Basin Frontier, University of Utah Press (Salt Lake City, UT), 2008.

Contributor of chapters to academic books. Contributor to periodicals, including Ensign, Brigham Young University Studies, and Journal of Mormon History. Manuscript reviewer for Oxford University Press, University of Oklahoma Press, and University of Utah Press.

SIDELIGHTS:

Reid L. Neilson is an educator and religious studies scholar. Born in Glendale, California, on September 6, 1972, Neilson is the son of a real estate developer and a homemaker. After finishing high school, Neilson worked as a missionary representative at the Japan Sapporo Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hokkaido, Japan, from 1991 to 1993. He also spent a semester studying at the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies in Israel in 1994. By 1996 Neilson had earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from Brigham Young University. Upon completing his undergraduate studies, he began working as a consultant for the Strategy, Economics, and Financial Consulting Division of Arthur Anderson in both Los Angeles, California, and London, England. In 1999 Neilson returned to Japan briefly as a summer associate of Walt Disney Enterprises in Tokyo.

In 2001 Neilson earned a Master of Arts degree in American history from Brigham Young University. That same year he also was an Archive of Restoration fellow at the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; a research assistant at the Asia-Pacific Human Resources Partnership of the University of Michigan Business School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Hong Kong, China; and was a National Olympic Committee assistant for the Games held in Utah. The following year Neilson earned a Master of Business Administration degree, again from Brigham Young University. In 2002 Neilson moved to North Carolina and was the International Studies Scholar for Tomorrow fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School. He began working as a teaching, research, and instructional assistant at the university. In 2005 he became a part-time instructor at Brigham Young University and was promoted to an assistant professor of church history and doctrine in 2006 after completing his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In 2004 Neilson edited his first book with Jed Woodworth, titled Believing History: Latter-day Saint Essays. The book is a collection of essays by Richard Lyman Bushman that focuses on the connection between faith and academics, the claims of the Book of Mormon, and placing Mormon founder Joseph Smith in the cultural context of his time. In a Church History review, Quincy D. Newell commented that "each reader will have a different favorite among these essays, but all of them are well-crafted pieces." New-ell added that the "questions are insightful and creative" and the "answers are carefully reasoned, thoroughly supported, and beautifully written."

Neilson edited The Rise of Mormonism in 2005. The book is an anthology of primarily previously published essays by Rodney Stark, a noted sociologist of religion. Essay topics include religion as a rational choice, church demographics and records, and the demographics of Mormonism as a globally growing religion. Jeff Needle, writing on the Association for Mormon Letters Web site, remarked that " The Rise of Mormonism is a thoughtful and insightful look at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, not so much as a movement born of revelation and restoration, but rather as a unique religious institution bearing the optimal characteristics for maximum growth and sustenance."

Edited with Ronald W. Walker in 2006,Reflections of a Mormon Historian: Leonard J. Arrington on the New Mormon History is a collection of essays by Mormon Church historian Leonard J. Arrington. A contributor to the Midwest Book Review "highly recommended" the "comprehensive collection."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Books & Culture, January 1, 2006, Gerald R. McDermott, review of The Rise of Mormonism, p. 9.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, May, 2006, D.L. Jorgensen, review of The Rise of Mormonism, p. 1620; December, 2006, S. Perry, review of The Mormon History Association's Tanner Lectures: The First Twenty Years, p. 662.

Church History, March, 2006, Quincy D. Newell, review of Believing History: Latter-day Saint Essays, p. 216; December, 2006, Richard J. Mouw, review of The Rise of Mormonism, p. 937.

Journal of Religion, July, 2007, Kathleen Flake, review of The Rise of Mormonism, p. 444.

Midwest Book Review, September, 2007, review of Reflections of a Mormon Historian: Leonard J. Arrington on the New Mormon History.

Reference & Research Book News, August, 2004, review of Believing History, p. 28; February, 2007, review of Reflections of a Mormon Historian.

Utopian Studies, summer, 2006, Gene Burd, review of The Rise of Mormonism.

ONLINE

Association for Mormon Letters Web site,http://www.aml-online.org/ (December 5, 2005), Jeffrey Needle, review of The Rise of Mormonism;(June 6, 2006), Jeffrey Needle, review of The Mormon History Association's Tanner Lectures.

Brigham Young University, College of Religious Education Web site,http://www.byu.edu/ (December 5, 2005), author profile.

Reid Neilson Home Page,http://www.reidneilson.com (December 5, 2005), author biography.