Russell M. Nelson, President, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Wikipedia Biographical Summary:

"...Russell Marion Nelson (born September 9, 1924) is an American religious leader and former surgeon who is the 17th and current president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints..."

"...A native of Salt Lake City, Utah, Nelson studied at LDS Business College while in his mid-teens and then worked as an assistant secretary at a bank. He then entered the University of Utah, earning a B.A. in 1945 and an M.D. in 1947.[3] Shortly thereafter, he began working with the team of doctors which created the first heart-lung machine. In 1951, the machine was used in the first open-heart operation on a human being. Four years later, Nelson was the first doctor in Utah to perform successful open-heart surgery using a heart-lung machine.
Nelson served a two-year term of medical duty in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, being stationed in Korea, Japan, and at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He served his residency in surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and then at the University of Minnesota, receiving a PhD in 1954..."

"...Nelson became involved with the administrative aspects of medicine and was elected president of the Utah State Medical Association. He was chair of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at LDS Hospital from 1967 to 1974 and director of the University of Utah Affiliated Hospital residency program in thoracic surgery from 1967 to 1984. He was honored nationally by being elected president of the Society for Vascular Surgery and a director of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery..."

"...n addition to his medical work, Nelson served frequently as a leader in the LDS Church. Before being appointed an apostle, he spent over six years (December 6, 1964 – July 11, 1971) as a stake president in Salt Lake City, during which time Joseph B. Wirthlin served as his second counselor. Nelson also served for eight years as the general president of the church's Sunday School, and four years as a regional representative of the Twelve. Nelson was called to be an apostle by Church President Spencer W. Kimball, to whom he had served as a personal physician for many years. Nelson was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on April 7, 1984 in an LDS Church general conference. He was ordained apostle on April 12, 1984 by Gordon B. Hinckley..."

"...Nelson married Dantzel White on August 31, 1945 in the Salt Lake Temple. They have 9 daughters and a son. Dantzel died unexpectedly at the Nelson home in Salt Lake City on February 12, 2005. She was survived by her husband and nine of her children. She was preceded in death by one daughter. On April 6, 2006 Nelson married Wendy L. Watson in the Salt Lake Temple. Watson—originally from Raymond, Alberta, Canada—is the daughter of the late Leonard David Watson and Laura McLean Watson..."

SOURCE: Wikipedia contributors, 'Russell M. Nelson', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 November 2011, 23:26 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Russell_M._Nelson&oldid=4...> [accessed 3 February 2012]

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