David B. Galbraith

For other people named David Galbraith, see David Galbraith (disambiguation).

David Brian Galbraith (born July 5, 1937) is a retired Brigham Young University (BYU) professor of political science who has served as head of the BYU Jerusalem Center and president of the Bulgaria Sofia Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Galbraith was called in 2009 to serve as president of the Montreal Quebec Temple of the LDS Church.

Biography

Galbraith was born in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada to Bruce V. Galbraith and his wife Beth Heninger. As a young man he served as a missionary in the Swiss-Austrian Mission of the LDS Church.

Galbraith received a bachelors degree in political science and a master's degree in international relations both from BYU. He holds a doctorate in international relations from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His doctorate focused on Arab-Israeli relations and conflict resolution.

Galbraith married Frieda Greta Lucile Kruger a native of the Netherlands, specifically the city of Amsterdam. Frieda and David first met in 1961 while David was living on a kibbutz and studying Hebrew. Frieda has a bachelors degree from BYU and a masters degree from Jerusalem University College. She has taught Book of Mormon classes for students who are not native speakers of English at BYU. David and Frieda are the parents of five children.

Galbraith spent much of his academic career in the Middle East. He lived there for a total of 20 years and was the director of the BYU Jerusalem Center for 15 years, from its start as a small study abroad program in 1972 through its growth into a major program by the late 1980s. Galbraith wrote the book Jerusalem: The Eternal City with Andrew C. Skinner and D. Kelly Ogden. Other writings of Galbraith include "The Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies: Reflections of a Modern Pioneer" with Blair G. Van Dyke in The Religious Educator Vol. 9 (2008) no. 1.

Galbraith served as president of the Bulgaria Sofia Mission from 2000-2003. When he arrived in 2000 the mission only covered Bulgaria, but in September of that year the mission was expanded to also include Serbia, Montenegro and Turkey.

Galbraith has also served as a stake president, district president and branch president in the LDS Church. In fact in 1972 Galbraith became the first LDS branch president in Jerusalem. As such he was closely involved with the requests that led to approval of Church meetings for LDS branches in Israel on Saturday and the building of the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden. In these activities he worked closely with Harold B. Lee, Edwin Q. Cannon (who as Swiss Mission President in 1972 was responsible for the Church in Israel), Gordon B. Hinckley and Howard W. Hunter.

Sources

• Ensign, October 1991, p. 16, bio connected with article by Galbraith
• Library Thing entry for Galbraith
• LDS Church News, July 18, 2009; June 22, 2000
• Cumorah.com material on the LDS Church in Bulgaria
• The Hurst Family entry for Galbraith

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Name	Galbraith, David B.
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Date of birth	July 5, 1937
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