Eric Dennis Huntsman is a religion professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) and coordinator of the university's ancient near eastern studies program. Huntsman was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and raised in New York, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. Huntsman served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Thailand. He graduated from BYU with a BA in Classical Greek and Latin in 1990. He then earned an MA and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1993, he married N. Elaine Scott. They are the parents of two children.