Description
Russell M. Nelson was sustained as the seventeenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in January 2018 after serving in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for more than 30 years. Prior to his call as an Apostle, he was a world-renowned cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon, medical researcher, and educator. He received his BA and MD degrees from the University of Utah and a PhD from the University of Minnesota. He and his wife, the late Dantzel White Nelson, are the parents of ten children. She passed away in February 2005. President Nelson married Wendy L. Watson, a professor of marriage and family therapy in BYU's School of Family Life, in 2006.