Helping families
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PROVO, Utah — On "a wonderful occasion" for President Gordon B. Hinckley and his family, BYU sponsored the inaugural Marjorie Pay Hinckley Lecture Feb. 10.
Funded by the endowed chair named for Sister Hinckley — the late wife of President Hinckley — the event was the centerpiece of a series of activities intended to help BYU focus on the family through research and education.
Capacity crowds filled the BYU Spencer W. Kimball Tower auditorium and overflow area for the address, offered by James Q. Wilson, the Ronald Reagan Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.
"I just want to express my very, very deep appreciation to all who have contributed to fund this chair and make possible these activities which are carried forward in her name," said President Hinckley, who attended a banquet and the inaugural lecture with his five children. "This is, for me, a wonderful occasion, of course, when my wife is honored in this capacity."
BYU announced the Marjorie Pay Hinckley Chair in Social Work and Social Sciences during a campus ceremony April 29, 2003 — the Hinckleys' 66th wedding anniversary — honoring Sister Hinckley for "her commitment to family and community."
Before the inaugural lecture, Dr. Wilson, author of 15 books, presented President Hinckley with a copy of his most recent book, "The Marriage Problem: How Our Culture Has Weakened Families."
"He didn't need to give it to me," said President Hinckley. "I didn't have (a marriage problem). I was in love when I married her and I was still in love 67 years later when I buried her. And the memories are sweet and wonderful and lasting."
David B. Magleby, dean of the BYU College of Family, Home and Social Sciences, said the chair honors the service and contributions of a woman whose "humor and honesty" touched so many. In addition to the annual university lecture, the chair will also fund mentored learning projects for students, research conferences, visiting scholars and outreach efforts in the community, he said.
Dr. Wilson, whose research examined the causes and consequences of the decline in marriage and intact families, said he knew very little about Sister Hinckley, who died last April 6, when he accepted the invitation to speak.
"This is a great honor for me," he said. "This is probably my fifth lecture at BYU, and this is the one that will probably mean the most to me because of the circumstances."
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