UA 5672 Wayne B. Hales papers

Wayne B. Hales served as one of the twelve bishops in the first stake on the Brigham Young University campus. He is on the far right in the front row.

The University Archives is pleased to announce the acquisition and availability of the Wayne B. Hales papers (UA 5672). These papers document the life of an influential faculty member at Brigham Young University.

Hales earned a BA from Brigham Young University in 1916. He taught at Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) from 1916 to 1921 and then became president of Snow College in 1921. In 1924 he left Snow College to attend the California Institute of Technology where he received his PhD in 1926. He then taught at Weber College (now Weber State University) from 1926 to 1930. In 1930 he joined the physics department of Brigham Young University. He served as dean of the General College from 1958 to 1964. He also served as chairman of Brigham Young University’s athletic committee from 1952 to 1967. Hales taught the first course in photography at Brigham Young University and was instrumental in establishing the university’s Photo Studio. Hales also served as bishop of one of the first wards in the first Brigham Young University Stake and was the first president of the Brigham Young University 5th Stake.

The Wayne B. Hales papers (UA 5672) contain personal journals, notes, scrapbooks, and photographs of Wayne B. Hales. Collection also contains genealogical records like pedigree charts and journals for Wayne B. Hales’s ancestors. A finding aid for the collection is available here. Additional information about other collections documenting the life of Wayne B. Hales is available here and here.

If you would like to learn more about the Wayne B. Hales papers, please contact the University Archivist at (801) 422-5821 or gordon_daines@byu.edu.