Institute Faculty
Biography :
Todd A. Knowles, director of the Seattle Institute of Religion, was born in San Jose, California, but lived most of his life in the Boise, Idaho area. He and his wife, Lisa, have 6 children and live in Shoreline, WA. Their oldest is 20 years old and currently serving a full-time mission in Arizona, 2 boys attend Shorecrest High School in Shoreline, a girl in middle school, a girl in elementary school, and a 5 year old boy at home. This is Bro. Knowles 23rd year with the Church Educational System - and his 3rd in Seattle. Previous assignments (all in Idaho and Utah) have included: released-time seminary teacher, a designer/writer of teacher and student manuals for the seminary and institute program, a coordinator of early-morning seminary, and as an Institute teacher. He has also taught for many years at summer youth conferences (like EFY and YFE), Campus Education Weeks, and other Continuing Ed programs. He received three degrees from Boise State University: a Bachelors in History-Social Science-Secondary Ed.; a Masters in Reading Education; and a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction. He is the co-author of three books on family scripture study published by Deseret Book. His hobbies include sports of most any kind, but he has a special fondness for the Olympic Games, March Madness, and College Football (especially Boise State - although he is trying to become a Husky fan). In term of participation, he is a runner who continues to compete at the "Masters" level at distances from 800 meters to the marathon and has competed in the national indoor championships in the mile run, and was the men's division winner of the 2007 Lake Chelan Marathon. He also loves to coach distance runners and has helped several to achieve personal records-including help them qualify for the Boston Marathon. Hiking and being in nature is another sporting love --- and he loves to take off with his wife or his kids (or both) and get to the tops of peaks or seek out beautiful sites in nature. His other equally loved hobby is history - especially visiting historical sites. Over the year, he and his wife have not only done extensive U.S. and LDS Church History site visits, but they have directed numerous US and LDS history bus tours. He is also famous for his extensive library. He loves to read and seeks to be well-read. (One of his biggest frustrations is not being about to remember all he reads!) His church service includes: counselor in a stake presidency, bishop, executive secretary to both, a young men's president, elder quorum president, and others. He served a full-time mission in southern Florida and in Jamaica, West Indies. He currently serves as an early-morning seminary teacher in his ward (the Lake Forest Park Ward).
- Office : Seattle Institute
- Office Hours :
- Office Phone :
- Email : rmetcalf@sixrobblees.com
Biography :
Biography :
It might be said the "Thorntons" are a mission-oriented family. At the time Elder + Sister Thornton received their mission call, their oldest child "Katie" was serving in the Bilbao, Spain Mission. Also their son, "Sean" is serving in the Milan, Italy Mission and their youngest son, "C.J." is serving in the Kenya, East Africa Mission. This meant the entire family of five had their "mission calls" at the same time. However, Katie just completed her mission and is now continuing her education on an academic honors scholarship at BYU-Provo while her brothers and parents continue to serve full-time. Katie calls herself a mission "orphan" and secretly wishes she was still out serving full-time in Spain. Elder + Sister Thornton also served missions in their youth. Elder Thornton served in the Raleigh, N.C. Mission, while Sister Thornton served in the Geneva, Switzerland Mission. Upon returning, Elder Thornton taught at the Provo MTC while attending college. Elder + Sister Thornton were both born and raised in small eastern Idaho towns. After meeting in college and marrying in the Salt Lake Temple, they made their home in Provo, Utah. In Provo, they sat through "many" a basketball game supporting their children. Provo High was fortunate enough to win a state title in each of their children's senior years. Both Elder + Sister Thornton received their bachelor degrees from BYU - Sister Thornton from the School of Accountancy and Elder Thornton from the School of Economics. Elder Thornton also received his Juris Doctor from the J. Reuben Clark Law School. After college, Sister Thornton worked for a public accounting firm and then for the BYU auditing department. About the same time Elder Thornton completed law school, Sister Thornton became a stay-at-home mom while retaining a few accounting clients at her home office. Early in his career, Elder Thornton practiced law, taught business law as an adjunct professor, and published an annual publication dealing with Idaho law. Somewhere along the way he then became the CEO of Premier, LLC which specializes in serving the medical industry with the manufacturing + distribution of specialty medical gases and supplies while he continued to also publish. Elder + Sister Thornton also have interests in several other business entities including Snowy Mountain Distributing. Their family enjoys white-water rafting and as of late, scuba. Sister Thornton is an avid "quilter" and enjoys teaching anyone the craft. Elder Thornton enjoyed climbing in his youth, basketball and coaching when their kids were little. He has climbed interesting peaks in the west, including the Grand Teton. They simply both love serving the Lord in whatever capacity they have been called upon to serve in the Church. They are very excited and feel very fortunate to be serving the young adults as the "new" CES missionaries for the Seattle Institute at this time of their lives.
- Office : Seattle Institute
- Office Hours :
- Office Phone : 206-633-2955
- Email : whiterd@ldschurch.org
Biography :
Brother Randy White was born in Salt Lake City, Utah but grew up primarily in Utah's Dixie - St. George. He is the youngest of 7 children. He served his mission in Santiago, Chile and later married Yvette Brusik. They have 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys, ranging in ages from 1 to 11 years. He played sports in high school and college and continues to be an all around sports enthusiast. He is always up for a ping pong challenge at the institute building. He ran several marathons and continues to enjoy running and the outdoors. Brother White served as a counselor at several EFY sessions across the nation and as the Married Couples representative at the University of Utah Institute. He started his professional career in the business world where he worked as a business consultant for several years. However, he found himself yearning to teach the gospel full time. He was later hired as a full time seminary teacher and has embraced the change. He came to the University of Washington Institute in August 2006 and loves the institute program including the pool and ping pong games.