Frank Judd Jr.

Frank Judd is a professor in the BYU Department of Ancient Scripture. He received a BA and MA in Ancient Near Eastern Studies from BYU (1993, 1995). As an undergrad at BYU, he spent a semester studying at the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies (1992). After graduating from BYU, he earned a MA and PhD in New Testament from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1997, 2003). He joined the faculty of BYU Religious Education in 1999. In 2004 and again in 2006, he received the BYU Student Honor Association Teaching Award. In 2014, he received the B. West Belnap Citizenship Award and in 2018 the Harvey B. and Susan Easton Black Outstanding Publication Award, both from BYU Religious Education.

Several years of his career have been spent serving at the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, both as a teacher (2010-2011, 2012-2013, 2016-2017, 2022-23) and as Associate Director of Academics (2019-2020). Professor Judd was the first faculty member at the Jerusalem Center who had previously been a student in the regular study abroad program housed at the Center after its opening in 1987. He was in Cairo Egypt with a JC student group on 25 January 2011 when the Arab Spring began. This was the last JC program to travel in the Sinai Desert and hike Mount Sinai. In Spring/Summer 2011, he helped lead the first JC student group on a tour of western Turkey. During that trip on 19 May 2011, they experienced a 5.8 earthquake while spending the night in Hierapolis. In Fall 2016, he helped lead a JC student group on a tour of Greece, the first group to do so in 26 years. In Winter 2020, he was the Associate Director when the spread of COVID-19 forced students to return home mid-semester. Brother Judd taught the religion classes in the Spring/Summer 2023 program, which was the final complete student program before the tragic events of Oct. 7, 2023 forced students to return home early.

Professor Judd has published studies on the Bible in venues such as the Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters, the Bulletin for Biblical Research, Studies in the Bible and Antiquity, the Journal of Research on Christian Education, and the Encyclopedia of Ancient History. He has also published for primarily Latter-day Saint audiences in venues such as the Ensign, the Liahona, the Religious Educator, BYU Studies Quarterly, the proceedings of BYU’s annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium, and for the BYU Religious Education Book of Mormon Academy. A selection of his publications for Latter-day Saint audiences through the BYU Religious Studies Center can be accessed here: https://rsc.byu.edu/author/judd-frank-f-jr.

He regularly teaches courses on the Bible and the Book of Mormon. His academic interests also include Latter-day Saint interpretation of scripture, the historical geography and archaeology of the Bible, and the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies.