Shane Reese was named the fourteenth president of BYU on March 21, 2023. “I’m honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve as the president of Brigham Young University,” said President Reese. “Wendy and I express our deep gratitude for the exemplary service of Kevin and Peggy Worthen. We love the mission of BYU and look forward to passionately pursuing that mission with our students, faculty and staff.”
Reese’s love for BYU runs deep. He joined the BYU Statistics faculty in 2001 and was dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences from 2017 to 2019. Before becoming president of BYU, Reese served as BYU’s academic vice president for nearly four years.
He was raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, by a hardworking single mother. Unsure what the future would bring, Reese decided to attend BYU for his bachelor’s degree. But only a week into the semester, he was ready to pack up and return home. Despite being surrounded by members of his faith, he felt strangely alone. His mother encouraged Reese to talk to their former bishop’s brother, Kevin J Worthen—then a young law professor at BYU. Thanks to his mother’s encouragement and his meeting with Worthen, Reese decided to stay at BYU. Reese went on to serve a two-year mission in Taipei, Taiwan. Upon returning from his mission, he returned to BYU, where he met his wife, Wendy. They are the parents of three children.
Reese earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in statistics from BYU in 1994 and 1995 and his PhD from Texas A&M University in 1999, also in statistics. His research interests include the application of statistics to physics experiments, national security problems, climate and environmental issues, and sports. He enjoys teaching all levels of statistics—from teaching Bayesian statistics to graduate students to teaching introductory statistics to students in the JSB Auditorium. A recipient of the BYU Young Scholar and Maeser Excellence in Teaching awards, Reese was elected a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.
In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, coaching various sports for his children, and spending time with his family.
