Scott Hoyt

Scott Hoyt graduated from California State University, Fullerton, with a bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies. He went on to receive his juris doctorate from the University of California, Hastings, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and editor of the Hastings Law Review.

Hoyt clerked for the California Supreme Court before becoming a litigation partner at Gibson Dunn, where he tried what was at that time the largest case ever tried in the United States court system (the Coordinated Asbestos Coverage Case, with over one hundred defendants). Gibson Dunn’s litigation department was ranked first in the nation by American Lawyer magazine.

Prior to attending the University of California, Hoyt spent two years in Peru as a Mormon missionary, during which time he studied the legends of Viracocha as recorded by Spanish Catholic historians during the conquest in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Hoyt and Kirk Magleby wrote “Los Cristianos Pre-Colombinos,” which was printed and circulated widely in Peru.

While practicing law, Hoyt furthered his study of the history and archaeology of Peru, as well as of Mexico and Central America. He wrote numerous papers on Viracocha, Quetzalcoatl (white, bearded god of the Aztecs), and Kulkulkan (white, bearded god of the Mayas), and returned to Peru twice for research. Hoyt also published a book about his missionary experiences, which includes a discussion of the legends of Viracocha: Two Years of Eternity (New York: Vantage Press, 2010).