Joseph L. Bishop
1972
- 1978
Joseph L. Bishop was born on August 23 1932 in Delta, Utah, the
son of J. Layton and Fontella Bishop. After graduating from Delta
High School in 1950, he served an LDS mission to Argentina. Bishop
married Carolyn Callister on June 28, 1956, and they are the parents
of five sons. He attended Brigham Young University where he received
a B.A. in Spanish in 1955 and an M.A. in Spanish in 1958. Bishop
received a Ph.D. in university administration from Claremont Graduate
School in Hayward, California in 1958. Subsequently he was chairman
of the Spanish department at Imperial Valley College, 1960-1961;
President of the Haitian-American Institute, 1961-1962; Academic
Dean, Mt. San Jacinto College; 1962-1966; Vice President, Praire
State College, 1966-1968; and executive director of GT-70, an educational
consortia made up of 30 colleges throughout the nation, 1968-1972.
Bishop was appointed by the Utah State Board of Higher Education
as President of Weber State College on May 23, 1972, and took office
on July 4 of that same year upon the retirement of William P. Miller.
During his career in higher education, Bishop has authored a number
of articles in professional publications. He is also the author
of The Making of a Missionary. In December 1977, Bishop was called
by the LDS Church to serve as President of the Argentina Buenos
Aires North Mission. After his return in 1981 he was selected to
serve as President of the Missionary Training Center in Provo.
Since his release from that assignment in 1986, Bishop has served
as Executive Director of BYU-Public School Partnership where he
coordinates activities of and educational reform consortium involving
five school districts and BYU’s College of Education. Bishop
who currently lives in Salt Lake City, was the recipient of an honorary
doctor of humanities degree from Weber State College when he retired
as president.
