Edwin S. Hinckley

Edwin S. Hinckley was a prominent educator and geologist. He was also a university administrator when he served as a counselor to the president of Brigham Young University, one of only two men to do so.

Hinckley was born on July 21, 1868, in Cove Fort, Utah. He was a son of Ira N. Hinckley and his wife Adelaide. He attended Brigham Young Academy and graduated from both its high school and collegiate divisions.

After pursuing studies at the University of Michigan and obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree, he joined the faculty of Brigham Young Academy in 1895. Among the subjects he taught are chemistry, physiography, domestic science, ethics, animal husbandry, soil science and religion. He was principal of Brigham Young High School, counselor to BYU president George H. Brimhall, served as dean of the Church Teachers College, and chief geologist at BYU. He retired from BYU in 1915. He then served as superintendent of the Territorial Reform School (state training school) in Ogden.

He served two terms as president of BYU’s alumni association.

Hinckley’s children established a scholarship in his honor at BYU in 1954. Among those who have studied with the Hinckley scholarship are Jeffrey R. Holland, Mitt Romney, Lloyd Newell, and Rex E. Lee. His children also endowed scholarships at Weber State University, Utah State University, and the University of Utah. Hinckley and his wife Adeline had 13 children.

Hinckley served as a part-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and as a full-time missionary in Colorado.

He died on November 15, 1929 after being in a traffic accident. He was an uncle of Church president Gordon B. Hinckley.