Richard L. Gunn

Visiting Richard Gunn’s home is an experience in visual stimulation. His rooms are filled with fascinating artifacts from places he has visited. For 51 years he has traveled to almost every country in the world. The shelves in his library are filled with fat journals containing detailed accounts and photos of his trips.

He has enthusiastically introduced others to various corners of the world by directing groups for the BYU Study Abroad program or LDS Travel.

Richard Gunn was born in Salt Lake City. He attended the University of Utah for two years but received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art from Brigham Young University. A mission to Hawaii and service in the military during World War II interrupted his schooling. Returning, he attended the Banff School of Fine Arts in Canada and received a doctorate from Stanford University in 1955. Gunn later taught in the public schools and served as the curator of the Springville Art Museum for several years. For 35 years he inspired BYU students in his graphics and art history classes.

The world opened to Gunn through his travels, and he consequently developed a personal philosophy that he has applied to all aspects of his life. While at BYU, Gunn took to heart the suggestion of a favorite teacher, Joseph K. Nicholes, who counseled, “Don’t hesitate to go the second mile.” At the time, Gunn said he knew the principle, believed it, but really hadn’t used it. “Doors and opportunities were opened for me throughout my life when I applied that principle,” he now recalls.

Gunn’s first wife, Jeanne, passed away, and he later remarried. He and his current wife, Jeanine, reside in Provo, where Gunn spends much of his time at the computer preparing vignettes of his life to share with his family this August when he celebrates his 90th birthday.