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William Edwin "Ed" Berrett (born 2 June, 1902-30 November, 1993) was a Vice President of Brigham Young University (BYU) and an LDS author.

Berrett was raised in southern-Salt Lake county in what is today Midvale, Utah. He attended Jordan High School. He received his undergraduate education from the University of Utah. He graduated from there in 1924 and then worked for a time as the principal of the LDS seminary in Roosevelt, Utah. He received a law degree from the University of Utah in 1933. He also did graduate studies at BYU from 1927-1933. In 1926 Berrett married Eleanore Louise Callister in the Salt Lake Temple.

By 1936 he began writing text books to be used in the LDS school and was an editor for the Church Educational System's curriculum development. Berrett's most notable work was The Restored Church a text to teach the history of the LDS Church that went through at least 16 editions. He also compiled with Alma Burton Readings in LDS Church History.

In 1943 Berrett was appointed special prosecutor for the Office of Price Administration for the Utah Division. In 1946 he became an assistant U.S. attorney in Alaska. He left government employment in 1947 and became a lawyer in private practice in Salt Lake City. He also was on the Deseret News' editorial staff.

From 1935-1953 Berrett was a member of the Deseret Sunday School Union General Board.

In 1947 Berrett joined the BYU faculty as a professor of Church History. In 1951 he was one of the key figures in getting an ROTC unit located at BYU. He also worked closely with Ernest L. Wilkinson in recruiting more faculty to BYU. In 1953 he was appointed vice president of both BYU and the Church Educational System.

From 1962-1965 Berrett also served as chairman of the Utah Committee on Children and Youth.

In 1965 the Seminary and Institute program was separated from the BYU administration. He was appointed head of Seminaries, Institutes and all Church run colleges and schools besides BYU. In 1972 Berrett retired and worked on writing a three-volume history of the Church Educational System. This was not published, but was later re-worked into a one-volume history published as A Miracle in Week-day Religious Education in 1988.

Berrett and his wife Eleanor have four children.

For the last two decades or so of his life Berrett served as a patriarch in the LDS Church.

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "William E. Berrett", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0