Eyring was born in Palo Alto, California, a son of Henry B. Eyring and Kathleen (née Johnson). Eyring's family lived in the San Francisco Bay Area while his father taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business until 1971, after which they moved to Rexburg, Idaho, where his father was appointed president of Ricks College (present-day BYU–Idaho). From 1982 to 1984, Eyring served as a full-time missionary for the LDS Church in the Japan Nagoya Mission.^[5] Eyring is a graduate of BYU, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in geology, an M.B.A., and Juris Doctor.^[1]

Business edit

From 1989 to 1998, Eyring was with a Cambridge, Massachusetts management-consulting firm, Monitor Group, which was founded in 1983 by six entrepreneurs with Harvard Business School (HBS) ties.^[6] He has also served as a director of SkyWest Airlines since 1995.^[3] From 2002 to 2003, he was a special partner with Peterson Capital.^[4]

Academia edit

From 1998 to 2002, Eyring served in the MSB as director of BYU's MBA program.^[4][7]

Eyring began employment at BYU-Idaho in 2006. Eyring initially served as an Associate Academic Vice President, with responsibility for online learning and instructional technology.^[8] From 2008 to 2015, Eyring served as BYU–Idaho's Advancement Vice President and then served from 2015 to 2017 as the Academic Vice President (AVP).^[2]

On February 7, 2017, Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles announced that Eyring would succeed Clark Gilbert as president of BYU–Idaho, effective April 10, 2017.^[9] His official inauguration occurred on September 19, 2017.^[10] Eyring completed his service as president of BYU-Idaho on August 1, 2023.

In 2011, while serving as BYU–Idaho's AVP, Eyring co-authored The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education with HBS professor Clayton M. Christensen, discussing the future of higher education and making college economically viable while conducting an in depth look at the histories of Harvard University and BYU-Idaho.^[11] Eyring has also served as a trustee of Southern Utah University and is an adjunct fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.^{[3][8][12][13]}

Eyring and his wife, Kelly, have five children and reside in Rexburg, Idaho.^[7] Eyring's oldest son, Henry, is a BYU-Idaho and HBS graduate and, since August 2022, an assistant accounting professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.^[14][15][16]

Eyring is a grandson of American theoretical chemist Henry Eyring and wrote a biography of his grandfather entitled Mormon Scientist: The Life and Faith of Henry Eyring.^[17][18][19] He also co-wrote a biography about his father, Henry B. Eyring, an educational administrator and LDS Church leader, entitled I Will Lead You Along: The Life of Henry B. Eyring.

Eyring's great-great-grandmother was a member of the Romney family.^[6]

In addition to his work in academia, Eyring has served in various leadership positions within the LDS Church, including as president of the Japan Tokyo North Mission, bishop, stake president,^[20] and as an area seventy (2019 to 2023).^[21][22][23]

Books authored or coauthored by Eyring

• Eyring, Henry J.; Eaton, Robert I. (2013). I Will Lead You Along: The Life of Henry B. Eyring. Deseret Book. ISBN 978-1-60907-783-9. OCLC 1609077830.
• ——; Christensen, Clayton M. (2011). The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education. Jossey-Bass. ISBN 978-1-11806-348-4. OCLC 1118063481.
• —— (2010). Major Decisions: Taking Charge of Your College Education. Deseret Book. ISBN 978-1-60641-636-5. OCLC 1606416367.
• —— (2008). Mormon Scientist: The Life and Faith of Henry Eyring. Deseret Book. ISBN 978-1-59038-854-9. OCLC 1590388542.

• List of presidents of Brigham Young University–Idaho
• List of J. Reuben Clark Law School alumni
• Brigham Young University-Idaho