Contact Information

Office: 4092 JKB

Phone: 422-1719

E-mail: mel_thorne@byu.edu

Courses Taught:
CHum 230 Print Publishing
ELang 350 Basic Editing Skills
ELang 351 Editing Student Journals
ELang 410R Genre and Substantive Editing
ELang 430R Editing for Publication

Link to Vitae

Mel Thorne's areas of special interest are in editing and publishing, especially scholarly publishing. He teaches courses in these areas and serves as Director of the Humanities Publication Center, a student lab designed to give advanced students hands-on experience editing and producing professional publications.

Before joining the BYU faculty in 2000, Professor Thorne spent seventeen years as an editor, first for the Curriculum Department of the LDS Church and then in scholarly publishing as the Director of Publications for the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies.

Born in Hawaii, Mel Thorne spent his grade school years in Oklahoma and teenage years in Illinois. After a year at the University of Illinois and a mission to South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), he finished his undergraduate studies at BYU, majoring in University Studies (an independently designed major consisting of literature and history), with a second major in philosophy. After tasting the pleasures of publishing by helping to launch a student journal at BYU (Century 2), he completed an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in American Studies at the University of Kansas as preparation for a career in scholarly publishing.

Prior to joining the BYU faculty, Professor Thorne spent seventeen years in publishing. His most recent position was as the Director of Publications for the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS). There he directed a small staff of editors in producing all FARMS publications, including two semiannual scholarly journals, a monthly newsletter, and 10–15 books per year. He also served as the vice-president of FARMS and as a member of its board of directors.

Beyond his family, church, and professional activities, Mel avidly (but infrequently!) pursues an interest in photography, especially nature and travel photography. He and his wife, Sandra, are the parents of two boys and two girls and have one grandson.

Degrees

BA, Brigham Young U., 1976
MA, U. of Kansas, 1980
PhD, U. of Kansas, 1986

Interests

Director, Humanities Publication Center