Mary Jane Woodger: Mormon Scholar

Mary Jane Woodger is a professor of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. She is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Woodger was born in 1958 and grew up in American Fork and Salt Lake City, Utah. She earned her bachelor’s degree in home economics education and taught home economics and history in Salt Lake City. She earned her master of education degree in 1992 from Utah State University and her doctor of education degree in 1997 from BYU. Her minor was in Church history and doctrine. Kappa Omicron Nu honored her with the Award of Excellence for her dissertation research, entitled The Educational Ideals of David O. McKay.

She is the author of several books, including three books about the life and teachings of David O. McKay. Other titles include: The Essential Doctrine and Covenants Companion, Against the Odds: The Life of George Albert Smith, and Gifts of Self-Esteem. She co-wrote Courtships of the Prophets (with Paulette Preston Yates), Women of Character (with Susan Easton Black), and Latter-day Saint Courtship Patterns (with Thomas B. Holman). She has also authored numerous articles on doctrinal, historical, and educational subjects that have appeared in various academic journals and religious publications. Recently, Woodger received the Best Article of the Year Award from the Utah Historical Society, as well as the Brigham Young University Faculty Women's Association Teaching Award.

Her current research interests include twentieth-century Church history, Latter-day Saint women’s history, and Church education. She is coauthoring a book, with Susan Easton Black and Casey P. Griffiths, about “The 100 Most Important Events in Latter-day Saint History.”