Elder Jeffrey R. Holland announced C. Shane Reese as the 14th BYU president at the devotional on March 21.
Reese will begin his service on May 1, which marks the ninth anniversary of Kevin J Worthen's tenure as BYU president.
Brother Reese has been serving as academic vice president of BYU since 2019. He was previously the dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences from 2017-2019 and joined the BYU statistics faculty in 2001.
Elder Holland said Brother Reese is a statistician and had previously turned down a job with the Philadelphia Eagles to stay at BYU.
President and Sister Worthen both spoke at the devotional reflecting on their nine years at BYU. 'I am grateful for all of you in this BYU community for your dedicated service that has blessed our lives and will continue to bless our lives and the lives of so many others,' Sister Worthen said. She went on to express her excitement for the Reeses as they begin their tenure.
President Worthen expressed his love for the BYU community and said he consulted ChatGPT for his remarks. 'It gave me a 61 word, 20 second remark that I could give you. It begins with, 'I have been honored to serve as president of Brigham Young University' and ends with 'go cougars,'' President Worthen said.
President Worthen thanked his wife for always being by his side and thanked all the faculty and staff at BYU and concluded with his testimony. 'Let me share with you that I believe with all my heart, mind and soul in the truth that there is a God in heaven,' President Worthen said.
Sister Wendy Reese expressed her gratitude for President and Sister Worthen and expressed her excitement about this new opportunity. 'We look forward to serving and learning alongside each of you. BYU truly is the Lord's university,' Sister Reese said.
Brother Reese then honored President Worthen by saying, 'Today, we honor your unending energy, your bold vision and your unfailing loyalty.'
He concluded by saying, 'At this important occasion, Wendy and I pledge our best efforts to build on the progress of President and Sister Worthen and feel a deep and abiding spiritual connection to President Kimball's prophetic vision for BYU as we approach the beginning of the second half of the second century,' Brother Reese said.