author
Richard Roswell Lyman
1870–1963
Raised in Utah and trained as an engineer, he moved between university life and major church leadership roles, building a public career that was both accomplished and deeply complicated. His story includes academic work, missionary service, and a dramatic fall and partial restoration late in life.
1 Audiobook
The construction and maintenance of earth roads
by Richard Roswell Lyman
About the author
Born in Fillmore, Utah, in 1870, Richard Roswell Lyman became known as both a civil engineer and a leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He studied engineering and later taught at the University of Utah, where he also served in senior administrative roles, including as dean and acting president.
In 1918 he was ordained an apostle, and over the following decades he took on major assignments in church leadership, including missionary and administrative work. Sources about his life consistently describe him as a prominent public figure in Utah, with a career shaped by both technical training and religious service.
His later years were marked by controversy: after a personal scandal, he was excommunicated in 1943, then rebaptized in 1954. He died in Salt Lake City in 1963 at the age of 93, leaving behind a life that readers may find notable for its mix of ambition, influence, and human complexity.