The Center Welcomes Adesina J. Olukanni in the Role of Senior Fellow for Africa
The International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University Law School is pleased to announce that Adesina J. Olukanni, recently retired as the Director of Public Affairs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for Africa West Area, has accepted an invitation to serve as the Center’s Senior Fellow for Africa. He was the Country Director in Nigeria for Church Education Systems between April 2004 and March 2007. He came into Public Affairs in April of 2007 as the Director of Public Affairs for the Church in the Africa West Area and the Africa South East Area.
Adesina has served in numerous Church positions, including high counsellor, branch president, district president’s counsellor, district president, mission president’s…
Erlend “Pete” Peterson Named as Center Senior Fellow for the Middle East
The International Center for Law and Religion Studies at BYU Law School is pleased to announced that Erlend “Pete” Peterson, recently retired from service as Brigham Young University’s Associate International Vice President, has accepted a position as Center Senior Fellow for the Middle East.
During his fifty years of full-time employment at BYU, Pete served in several professional positions in Admissions and Records (35 years), as Assistant Dean, Associate Dean, and Dean of Admissions and Records (25 years). For the past 15 years he was Associate International Vice President, which included many international roles and hosting, including a close working relationship with the International…
The Center Welcomes Sharman Blood as a Conference Liaison
Sharman Blood has joined the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University as a Conference Liaison. Sharman’s past experience includes working for the Office of Public Liaison at the White House and later as a research assistant for a policy research group before moving to San Francisco. While in the Bay Area, Sharman earned an MA in education from Stanford University and taught high school for several years working with at-risk students. She has also owned her own bookkeeping business and served for a time as the Public Affairs Director for the San Francisco Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Sharman will assist in coordinating and organizing the annual International Law and Religion Symposium as well as other conferences worldwide. She looks forward to working with others who are passionate about the Center’s mission.
Jane Wise
Jane Wise has joined the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School as an Associate Director. She comes most recently from twenty years as an adjunct professor (advocacy faculty) at the Law School, where she served on the legal writing and external relations committees. She taught legal writing, lawyering skills, and law and literature courses in the classroom, as well as legal writing classes online. She developed curricula for the American legal academy including materials for English as a–second-language law students, and the writing curriculum she helped design for BYU Law’s Rex E. Lee Advocacy Program was ranked 17th in the nation for legal writing programs in law schools by U.S. News and World Report in 2000,…
The Center Congratulates the 2017 Law School Graduates
The Center has the privilege of working with some of the best and the brightest students at the J. Reuben Clark Law School. As research assistants, Student Fellows, and members of the Student Management Board and Symposium Executive Committee, they are an essential part of the work the Center does. They often continue to assist in the cause of freedom of religion or belief in their professional lives outside of the university. The Center congratulates this year’s BYU Law School graduates, thanks them for their service, and wishes them the very best in the future.
Here are highlights of just a few of the students who have…
Dr. Ganoune Diop Receives Thomas L. Kane Religious Freedom Award
(Originally published by Mormon Newsroom)
Dr. Ganoune Diop, director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church, was given the Thomas L. Kane Religious Freedom Award by the J. Reuben Clark Law Society (Brigham Young University) recently in Philadelphia.
In presenting the award, Elder Lance B. Wickman, general counsel for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and emeritus member of the Seventy, thanked Dr. Diop for being a friend of the Church like Thomas L. Kane was a friend to the Church.
During its annual conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania…