Dr. A. Dean Byrd, NARTH Board Member and past-President passed away early Wednesday morning from cancer surrounded by his wife Elaine and members of his family. Many NARTH members who were close to Dean had the opportunity to visit with him in his hospital room via the telephone in his last weeks.

A viewing will be held this Friday evening April 13th from 6:00 to 8:00 MST at the Larkin Mortuary in Sandy, Utah. The funeral will take place Saturday April 14th at noon (MST) in a chapel near his home in Highland, Utah.

Dean was a true clinical pioneer paving the way for many others in the treatment of unwanted homosexual attractions. He had been a member of the NARTH Board of Directors for more than a decade and made a tremendous contribution to the early work in establishing NARTH as a reliable scientific and research organization. He is the author of many books, was a noted educator and speaker, and served on the Board of the Utah Psychological Association.

The members of NARTH and the Board of Directors find it difficult to adequately describe what a great loss this is to the organization and to express just how much he will be missed.

A. Dean Byrd, PhD, MBA, MPH (brief biography)
served as president of Thrasher Research Fund, which funds research for children’s health around the world. He is also a clinical professor with the University of Utah School of Medicine, with appointments in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and the Department of Psychiatry. He is a past president of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), a board member of the Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists (AMCAP), and a director of the Foundation for Attraction Research. Employed more than twenty-five years with LDS Family Services as a clinical psychologist, Dr. Byrd is a prodigious writer, with numerous published books, book chapters, and peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles to his credit. He is also one of the editors of Understanding Same-Sex Attraction. Dr. Byrd is an internationally recognized expert in the field of research and treatment of unwanted homosexual attractions.