Gerrit de Jong Jr.

Who was Gerrit de Jong Jr.?

Gerrit de Jong Jr. was the first dean of the College of Fine Arts at Brigham Young University. He converted to Mormonism from the Dutch Reformed tradition in his late teens.

He was quite skilled in music and wrote the words and music for the Latter-day Saint hymn, "Come Sing to the Lord," which is #10 in the 1985 hymnal.

Even though he was dean of the College of Fine Arts, and very skilled in this area, he spent most of his career teaching foreign languages. He spoke so many languages that he would joke that it was as logical to ask him how many languages he spoke as to ask him how many songs he could play on the piano.

He was known as Mr. Portuguese and in his time was probably the most knowledgeable professor at BYU in the subject of Portuguese and Brazilian literature.

The concert hall at Brigham Young University is named in his honor.