Brian K. Ashton will become the second president of BYU-Pathway Worldwide, effective August 1, 2021. Brian Ashton has served as vice president of field operations for BYU-Pathway since 2018.
Brian Ashton succeeds Clark G. Gilbert, who has served as the inaugural president of BYU-Pathway since its creation in 2017. President Gilbert was recently sustained as a General Authority Seventy and
“President Ashton has been prepared for some time,” said Elder Gilbert. “His academic training and prior professional background have given him significant administrative and leadership experience that will be a blessing to BYU-Pathway.”
Since BYU-Pathway first began as a small pilot program at BYU-Idaho, enrollment has grown exponentially from just 50 in 2009 to 51,583 in 2020.
Elder Gilbert said, “I also know President Ashton to be a man of God, who is open to feedback from peers and from the Spirit. I know he will lead this organization from his knees and that he will be a powerful leader of this work.”
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About Brian Ashton
Brian Ashton has served as BYU-Pathway’s vice president of field operations since 2018. He previously led an educational start-up company, focused on correctional and life skills education. He received a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Harvard University.
Brother Ashton previously served as Second Counselor in the Church’s Sunday School General Presidency from 2015 to 2019. He was also president of the Texas Houston South Mission, bishop, high councilor, elders quorum president, and missionary in the Peru Lima Mission. He and his wife, Melinda, are the parents of seven children.
About BYU-Pathway Worldwide