Introduction
James R. Rasband (born March 20, 1963) has been a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since April 2019. Due to hiscall as a general authority, his service as Academic Vice President at Brigham Young University (BYU) ended in June 2019, a position he had held since June 2017. He previously served as dean of the J. Reuben Clark Law School (JRCLS). He has also been the Hugh W. Colton Professor of Law.
Legal and academic career
Rasband received a bachelor's degree from BYU (1986) and later graduated from Harvard Law School (1989), where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Following law school, Rasband clerked for Judge J. Clifford Wallace of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He then worked as a lawyer in Seattle for the Perkins Coie law firm.In 1995, he joined the faculty of the JRCLS. He has been a visiting professor in Australia at the University of Queensland and Murdoch University. Rasband is a specialist in public land law and natural resources law.
From 2004 to 2008, Rasband served as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the JRCLS. In 2008 and 2009, he was BYU's Associate Academic Vice President for Faculty. Rasband served as dean of the JRCLS from 2009 to 2016.
Rasband was succeeded as BYU's Academic Vice President by C. Shane Reese.
LDS Church service
He served in the LDS Church as president of the Provo Utah YSA 8th Stake (Latter Day Saints) from 2011 to 2016. In April 2017, he was called as an area seventy. Rasband was sustained as a General Authority Seventy on April 6, 2019, at age 56.
Personal life
Rasband and his wife, Mary Williams, are the parents of four children.