Joel Edward Ricks was born October 18, 1889 at Rexburg, Fremont County, Idaho the son of Nathan and Sarah Ann Taylor Ricks. In 1908 Ricks enrolled at the University of Utah and graduated in 1912 with a BA in History. He then took a teaching position at South Sanpete High School at Gunnison, Utah where he taught and served as the school's principal until 1917. In 1917 Ricks found employment at Weber College where he worked as a teacher until 1920, and from 1920 to 1922 he served as president of the college. During this period he married Katherine "Kitts" McKay of Huntsville, Utah on June 8, 1917 in the LDS Salt Lake Temple. While working at Weber College, Ricks also enrolled at the University of Chicago where he received an M.A (1920), and later a PhD (1930) in American History. His Ph.D. dissertation was entitled "Forms and Methods of Early Mormon Settlement in Utah and the Surrounding Regions: 1847-1877." On July 1, 1922, Ricks began his career at the Utah Agricultural College (now Utah State University). He taught at USU from 1922 to 1967, serving as head of the History Department from 1922 until 1955. While at USU Ricks served on many committees, including chairman of the Awards and Honors Committee, president of the Faculty Association, president of Phi Kappa Phi, and as chairman of the University Semi-Centennial Committee. He also served on the Board of Trustees for the Utah State Historical Society (USHS) and was its president from 1949 to 1957. He worked to ensure that the USHS was a state-wide organization with its membership open to all, and established branches or county chapters throughout the state; the first of these being the Cache Valley Historical Society (see Coll Mss 43: Cache Valley Historical Society Papers). He was also an ardent supporter of the Sons of the Utah Pioneers organization. Ricks was the author of a number of publications, including A History of Fifty Years (1938), the semi-centennial history of the Utah State Agricultural College, and he was the co-author and editor of A History of a Valley (1956), a centennial history of Cache Valley. In 1964 Ricks' Ph.D. Dissertation was published as a monograph by USU. Ricks was engaged in a project to write a book entitled "Mormon Colonization under John Taylor" at the time of his death on November 27, 1974. Source; Obituary, The Herald Journal, November 27, 1974.