Albrecht Called as Mission President
When fall semester starts, W. Steve Albrecht will be far from his office. On 24 June, Albrecht entered the Missionary Training Center with his wife, LeAnn, to prepare to serve as president of the Japan Tokyo Mission. Nearly forty years ago, Albrecht served as a missionary in Japan, then part of the Northern Far East Mission.
Albrecht began teaching at BYU thirty-two years ago. He came because "BYU is where I got my testimony [and] we wanted to raise our family here." Now, he says, "You couldn't blow me out of BYU with a cannon." Albrecht has served as an associate dean of the Marriott School for the past ten years. Previously, he served as director of the SOA for ten years, during which time he helped develop the Accounting Junior Core.
Albrecht has received many honors during his career. The most important, in his words, are "Dad" and "Grandpa." He has also been recognized with the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Award, the Marriott School of Management's Outstanding Faculty Award, and the honor of having a building named after him at the headquarters of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
The Albrechts have five sons, one daughter, and sixteen grandchildren. They are excited for the opportunity to serve, though it will not be easy. Albrecht says the three greatest challenges are leaving his family, leaving his various service positions, and re-learning Japanese.
