Graduated in international relations (1996), history (2001), and business (2002) from Brigham Young University, and holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2006).
He was a professor of religious education at Brigham Young University and active in the field of Mormon history before becoming the Managing Director of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon or LDS Church) in 2010.