We’re pleased to announce that the BYU London Centre has a new director: Professor Cecilia Peek (Comparative Arts and Letters), who has been serving as interim director since 2023, will officially begin in the position starting 1 September 2025.
Peek has a long history of studying and teaching international topics. She earned a bachelor's degree in Classics from BYU, followed by a master’s degree and PhD from UC Berkeley in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology, with an emphasis on Classical History and studies in Greek and Latin.
She was hired into Classical Studies at BYU in 1996 and got involved with the Kennedy Center for International Studies when she became an affiliated faculty member with the Ancient Near Eastern Studies program.
Her connection to the London Centre is also of long standing. “My first study abroad was as one of the faculty directors (along with Martha Peacock) of the London Centre,” she says. “I had been to London several times before, but that is when I fell in love with London as a GREAT city for education and arrived at the full realization of how valuable a study abroad experience can be for students.” Talking to students who’ve had international study experiences confirms to her how valuable those experiences are, she says: “Whenever I speak with graduating seniors and I ask them what was the most meaningful experience of their undergraduate years, any student who has done a study abroad or an international internship inevitably points to that as the most meaningful.”
She went on to serve as a faculty director on London Centre study abroad programs in winter 2016, spring 2016, fall 2019, and fall 2022. In 2020, Peek was appointed faculty coordinator of the Ancient Near Eastern Studies program. Developments in London, however, called her away from Provo only a few years later.
At the time, Alan Phillips was the resident academic director of the London Centre. However, in the spring of 2023, he was called as a full-time General Authority Seventy for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, leaving the London Centre without a director. Various BYU employees temporarily filled the gap until the fall of 2023, when Peek was appointed interim director and moved with her husband, Ken Peek, to London. Matthew Grey and Jason Combs filled in as interim directors of the Ancient Near Eastern Studies program until Grey was officially appointed to that position in the summer of 2025.
In the fall of 2024, Peek was appointed to another term as interim director. At the time, BYU was in the process of searching for a long-term director, and Peek applied. She was told she had been chosen in early 2025. “I count myself very lucky indeed to have been appointed to the position longer term now,” she says.
The Peeks will continue to live year-round at the London Centre, visiting the US occasionally to see family. “My four amazing children are all in the United States: three in Utah and one in Oregon,” she says. “So, we plan one home visit a year to see them. Sometimes, there will be a special occasion that takes us to Utah. For example, our youngest son graduated from BYU in Computer Science in April 2025, and our older son will receive his Master of Accountancy from BYU in April 2026. We certainly want to visit for those important milestones.”
In her position as director, Peek is involved in many aspects of the London Centre: teaching during fall and winter semesters, providing support for incoming students and faculty, and doing outreach such as hosting and service. Since the opening of 31 Palace Court, the position has also included working with the student interns residing there. She says, “In addition to study abroad opportunities, I would encourage students at BYU to look into possible London internships; there are around 30 possible placements now, ranging from editing to marketing, work in Parliament to work in museums, etc. They really are an extraordinary opportunity.”
Though she’s only now officially becoming the director of the London Centre long-term, she has two years of experience there under her belt. In that time, she has seen that the students are the most important part of the Centre and therefore of her position: “The students are the heart and soul of the London Centre,” she observes, “and my most important goal is to do everything I can to assure that the students and interns who participate in a London experience have a spiritually, intellectually, and academically transformative experience. The BYU London Centre has a long and brilliant legacy of providing some of the best imaginable experiential learning to be had, and I want to continue and strengthen that legacy.”
Facilitating student experiences is not her only goal, however. She adds, “I consider opportunities for outreach, utilizing both the Centre and the talents of the people in the Centre (faculty and students), vital for establishing positive and lasting relationships with people here in London, both Latter-day Saints and people of other faith traditions.”
When asked why she thinks international study in general and the London Centre in particular are valuable for students, she muses, “Where does one begin? There is something absolutely magical about learning in the places where so many important historical events occurred, where so many scientific discoveries were made, where so many works of art were created or are available to be seen. London is one of the great world cities, and there is such an abundance to be seen and learned through the experience of being in London.”
She mentions a quote that is often attributed to Saint Augustine: “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” Her position at the London Centre gives her the opportunity to observe the truth of that statement: “It is a marvel to see students opening the book of the world and of human experience and fully immersing themselves,” she says.
“Besides that, the Centre—as a place for the students to live and work and serve together—turns their time in London into something far greater than the academic credit they receive. They study, laugh, compromise, serve, and love one another and the people in the wards they attend. They build a community, and that, as much as anything, is what transforms them.”