BYU-Idaho will be 'fun challenge,' new president says

REXBURG, Idaho — Newly appointed Brigham Young University-Idaho President Kim Clark on Tuesday made his maiden trip to the campus in Rexburg, a place he is eager to call home.

Clark, currently the dean of Harvard University's Business School, will take the helm of BYU-Idaho at the end of August.

He addressed the student body and fielded questions from school leaders, students and the media in a whirlwind daytime visit before returning to Boston Tuesday evening.

"The biggest challenge for me is that today is my first day at BYU-Idaho," Clark said. "I have just begun to meet the people I will be working with, just begun to look into the eyes of the students — I have a lot to learn, but it will be a fun challenge."

Elder W. Rolfe Kerr, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy and commissioner of education for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, described Clark as an innovator and creator with a widespread reputation as a successful educator and business leader.

"I can tell you that there has been some preparation and this is a key point in time," Kerr said. "Truly, as time passes, we will look back on this moment with a very clear feeling that this is the man who has been prepared for this particular time at this institution."

Kerr also recognized Robert Wilkes, who was appointed interim president in December after then-President David A. Bednar was called as an apostle for the LDS Church.

"(Wilkes) has kept the institution on course and has been a leader and exemplar in every sense of the word," Kerr said.

Rexburg's quiet and rural setting has some dramatic contrasts with the Boston metropolitan area. However, Clark said he is confident he will grow to love Idaho.

He said his wife, Sue, grew up in a little place on the edge of the desert called Waterflow, N.M. — a town of around 500.

"When I first drove into Waterflow with Sue, there were no people . . . no green and lots of sagebrush," Clark said. "But you know what? I found the love of my life there. That's how I feel about Rexburg — this place is special."

Clark has deep roots at Harvard, with a career spanning three decades there. But he always has kept an eye on what was going on at BYU-Idaho.