Stan A. Taylor
Stanley A. Taylor was a university professor and administrator.
He was born on April 11, 1934, in Provo, Utah. After serving as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Chicago area, he returned to Provo and attended Brigham Young University where he earned a degree in political science. He then entered the PhD program at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, jointly administered by Harvard University and Tufts College in Boston, Massachusetts. While in Boston, he also served as chair of the Political Science Department at Bentley College.
From there he took a position at BYU where he taught political science and international relations for nearly forty years. He was also chair of the Political Science Department and founded the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies and served as its first director.
During a two two-year leaves of absence from BYU, he worked in the United States government. He was first a legislative assistant for Utah Congressman Gunn McKay and later appointed by Utah Senator Jake Garn to the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Stan became an expert in national security matters, teaching classes on the subject at BYU and in other schools around the US and the world: He was a Fulbright senior lecturer at the University of Otago in New Zealand in 1993 and a visiting fellow at the University of Kent (Canterbury, England) in 1988. He published numerous books and articles on this subject and advised presidents and prime ministers.
Taylor continued to serve in the Church of Jesus Christ in various callings, including three stake presidencies and as a mission leader with his wife, Victoria, in Boise, Idaho.
He served as a special senior missionary advising members of the Church's First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on international political matters.
Taylor was also a musician. After his first mission for the Church, he formed The Stan Taylor Dance Band to help pay for his college expenses. Later, he was a trumpet player with the Utah Valley Symphony for many years.
He and his wife had five children. He died on January 15, 2022.
