Samuel D. Major – Secretary
Samuel D. Major is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist at Willow Therapy Services and a recent Ph.D. graduate in Psychology from Brigham Young University, where he studied under Dr. Edwin E. Gantt. A native of Utah, he earned previous degrees in Marriage and Family Therapy from Northwestern University and in Psychology from Brigham Young University. His scholarly and clinical work center on the intersection of moral agency, virtue ethics, and human flourishing, with a particular interest in developing other-oriented approaches to therapy. He has authored or co-authored more than two dozen scholarly publications and presentations and has contributed encyclopedia entries to the Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Dr. Major has taught and co-taught undergraduate courses in psychology at both Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University. A frequent contributor to Public Square Magazine, he writes on faith, virtue, and moral psychology. In addition to his academic work, he regularly presents in firesides and other Latter-day Saint educational settings on topics of faith, virtue, and discipleship. He is the happy husband to Holli, enjoys good books, fun boardgames, and spending time with friends and family.
Jamie Hansen – Treasurer
Jamie Hansen earned her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Brigham Young University, where she also received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Her professional experience spans counseling psychology, higher education, teaching, student development, and instructional psychology and technology. Her clinical training included work with Counseling and Psychological Services at Brigham Young University, Brigham Young University–Hawaii, and the University of St. Thomas, followed by postdoctoral work at Linfield College. She currently serves as an Assistant Librarian in the Social Sciences at Brigham Young University, with subject specialties in psychology, counseling psychology, and instructional psychology and technology. Her broader professional interests include teaching, program and curriculum development, student development, and helping scholars and students engage thoughtfully with psychological research. As a member of the Sharon Institute Board, she is particularly interested in approaches to scholarship that take the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ as a genuine intellectual foundation and allow revealed truths about God, human beings, and their eternal purposes to inform the study of psychology and education.
Kylie M. Burdge – Media Relations Officer
Kylie M. Burdge is a psychology resident in private practice in Utah County, where she works with individuals, couples, and groups. She earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Brigham Young University, where her dissertation, Transcending the Malaise of Psychology by Being for the Other, examined how an other-focused approach to therapy restores the moral and relational depth often missing in contemporary models. Her clinical training includes a pre-doctoral internship at Baylor University and prior work at BYU’s Counseling and Psychological Services and a private practice in Washington state. Dr. Burdge has presented at national conferences and published on ADHD interventions, the philosophy of therapy, and the integration of faith and psychology, including essays in Public Square Magazine. She has taught and guest lectured at Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University and is co-authoring a forthcoming volume on Alterity-Focused Therapy™. As a member of the Sharon Institute Board, she seeks to advance a psychology grounded in the truths of the Restored Gospel and the moral and eternal nature of the human person.
Tanner H. Monroe – A/V Specialist
Tanner H. Monroe earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Brigham Young University in 2024 and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Instructional Psychology and Technology at BYU. His research centers on the study of human agency, with particular interest in how conceptions of agency shape human relationships and interactions, especially in educational contexts. His other scholarly interests include agency and the family, women in religious contexts, the relationship between human agency and the tools that mediate everyday experience, and the development of curricula that more fully reflect the nature and purposes of human persons. Tanner has taught religious education, scholarly writing, educational technology, and teacher training in a variety of settings both within and beyond the university classroom. Originally from Indiana and the oldest of six children, he enjoys reading, wakesurfing, wakefoiling, hiking, watching movies, and, most of all, spending time with family and friends. As a member of the Sharon Institute Board, he seeks to advance understandings of the human person grounded in the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, especially the truth that all people are children of God.