Bryan West Belnap was born in Ogden, Utah on March 14, 1921, to Volney B. Belnap and Rose Marie West. He graduated from Ogden High in 1939 and studied for two years at Weber College. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Southern States mission. He received his BS degree from Brigham Young University in 1946 and his MA degree in Philosophical Education at Columbia University in 1950. He then received his PhD in Religious Education from Columbia University in 1951. In order to pay tuition at Columbia, Belnap and his wife Darlene Howard became house parents to twenty boys at Woodycrest, a juvenile facility in the Bronx. Upon returning to Utah, Belnap worked for Brigham Young University as a professor. He also served as acting chair and then chair of the Department of Church Organization and Administration. From 1953 to 1958, he served as director of the Undergraduate Division of Religion. From 1959 to 1961 he served as the chair of the Department of Religious Education. In 1962, he was appointed dean of Religious Instruction. During this time, Belnap served as executive secretary to the All-Church Priesthood Correlation Plan and the Children’s Committee of the All-Church Priesthood Co-ordinating Council where he helped write the first family home evening manual. Belnap passed away on January 13, 1967.

Chauncey Cazier Riddle was born on December 18, 1926 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Alfred Levi and Frances Gazier Riddle. He served briefly in the armed forces before attending Brigham Young University, where he graduated with his bachelor's degree in 1947. He continued his education at Columbia University, earning a master's degree in 1951 and his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1958. He started working at Brigham Young University in 1952, working at the university for forty years as a philosophy professor, as chair of the graduate program in Religious Instruction, as dean of the Graduate School, and as an Assistant Academic Vice President.

The College of Religious Instruction was born in 1959 when the Division of Religion was discontinued due to growth in university enrollment and renamed the College of Religious Instruction. As university enrollment grew, religious class enrollment grew, as every student was required to engage in a religious class each semester. The following individuals served as deans of the college: David H. Yarn, Jr. (1959-1963), B. West Belnap (1964-1967), Daniel H. Ludlow (1968-1971), and Roy W. Doxey (1972-1973). The College of Religious Instruction had a fundamental role in properly integrating religious and moral values with secular knowledge. With the requirement of religious course enrollment each semester, individuals at Brigham Young University had the opportunity of establishing his or her life on a stable ethical and religious basis. Despite its college structure, the College of Religious Instruction did not grant degrees, neither graduate nor undergraduate. Theological classes became part of the College of Religious Instruction at its establishment in 1959. Beginning in 1961, the faculty of the College of Religious Instruction instituted a new class requirement for incoming freshman, that of a Book of Mormon course. A Reading Committee on Publication of Theological Material existed at least in 1963 under the chairmanship of William E. Berret. It was discontinued by 1968. The following departments were a part of the College of Religious Instruction from 1959 to 1964: Bible and Modern Scripture, Biblical Languages, L.D.S. Theology Church Organization and Administration, History and Philosophy of Religion, and Religious Education. These were replaced by the Dept. of Undergraduate Studies in Religious Instruction and the Dept. of Graduate Studies in Religious Instruction in 1964. Three new departments were organized in 1969, replacing the previous two, which included the Department of Ancient Scriptures, the Department of Church History and Doctrine, and the Department of Philosophy.

Daniel H. Ludlow (1924-2009) was the director of the Correlation Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a faculty member at Brigham Young University, and the editor of the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. Daniel H. Ludlow was born on March 17, 1924 and died February 14, 2009. Dr. Ludlow attended Utah State University, Indiana University and Columbia University. He taught at Utah State University from 1947 to 1952, and Brigham Young University from 1955 to 1972, where he served as dean of religious instruction and director of the Institute of Mormon Studies. Dr. Ludlow worked for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in several capacities, including as director of teacher support services for the Church Educational System and director of the Correlation department.