Henry B. Eyring

Henry B. Eyring
First Counselor in the First Presidency
February 3, 2008
Called by	Thomas S. Monson
Predecessor	Thomas S. Monson
Second Counselor in the First Presidency
October 6, 2007 – January 27, 2008
Called by	Gordon B. Hinckley
Predecessor	James E. Faust
Successor	Dieter F. Uchtdorf
End reason	Dissolution of First Presidency on death of Gordon B. Hinckley
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
April 1, 1995 – October 6, 2007
Called by	Gordon B. Hinckley
End reason	Called as Second Counselor in the First Presidency
LDS Church Apostle
April 6, 1995
Called by	Gordon B. Hinckley
Reason	Death of Howard W. Hunter; reorganization of First Presidency
First Quorum of the Seventy
October 3, 1992 – April 1, 1995
Called by	Ezra Taft Benson
End reason	Called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric
April 1, 1985 – October 3, 1992
Called by	Robert D. Hales
Predecessor	H. Burke Peterson
Successor	H. David Burton
Military career
1955–1957
Service/branch	United States Air Force
Personal details
Born	Henry Bennion Eyring May 31, 1933 Princeton, New Jersey, United States
Alma mater	University of Utah (B.S.) Harvard University (MBA, DBA)
Spouse(s)	Kathleen Johnson
Children	6
Signature

Henry Bennion Eyring (born May 31, 1933) is an American educational administrator, author, and religious leader. Eyring is the First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Eyring was the Second Counselor to Gordon B. Hinckley in the First Presidency from October 6, 2007, until Hinckley's death on January 27, 2008. On February 3, 2008, Eyring was called as First Counselor to Thomas S. Monson in the First Presidency, serving with Second Counselor Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

Eyring has also served as a general authority of the church in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the First Quorum of the Seventy, and the Presiding Bishopric. Eyring has served twice as Commissioner of the Church Educational System. Currently, he is the seventh most senior apostle among the ranks of the church.^[1]

Biography

Early life

Eyring was born in Princeton, New Jersey, the second child of Henry Eyring, the dean of the graduate school at the University of Utah and president of the American Chemical Society, and his wife, Mildred Bennion. His father's sister, Camilla Eyring, married Spencer W. Kimball, making Henry B. the nephew of Kimball, who was the 12th president of the LDS Church.

Henry B. Eyring lived in Princeton until his early teenage years. Until the start of World War II they attended LDS meetings at the branch in New Brunswick, New Jersey, but with the gasoline rationing of the war they received permission to hold meetings in their home, which often only consisted of the Eyring family.^[2] As a teenager Eyring and his family moved to Salt Lake City when his father took a post at the University of Utah.

Military service and education

Eyring spent two years in the U.S. Air Force, stationed at Sandia Base in New Mexico. While in New Mexico, Eyring served as a district missionary for the LDS Church.^[3] He received a BS degree in physics from the University of Utah. He went on to earn both Masters and Doctoral degrees in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, before embarking on a career in academia.

Eyring while president of Ricks College

Academic career and religious leadership

Eyring has served twice as Commissioner of Church Education, from September 1980 to April 1985, and from September 1992 to January 2005, when he was replaced by W. Rolfe Kerr.^[4] Eyring was an associate professor of business at the Stanford Graduate School of Business from 1962 to 1971.^[5] He was also a Sloan Visiting Faculty Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Among other callings in the LDS Church, Eyring has served as a regional representative, bishop and member of the Sunday School General Board.^[6]

Eyring served as president of Ricks College from 1971 to 1977, as a counselor to Presiding Bishop Robert D. Hales from 1985 to 1992, and as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy from 1992 to 1995.

Following the death of church president Howard W. Hunter, Eyring was sustained to the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on April 1, 1995, and ordained an apostle later that same week.

Eyring was sustained as Second Counselor in the church's First Presidency on October 6, 2007,^[7] filling the vacancy left by the death of James E. Faust on August 10, 2007. When the First Presidency was reorganized following the death of Gordon B. Hinckley, Eyring was called and set apart as the First Counselor on February 3, 2008. The new First Presidency, with Thomas S. Monson as president, was announced on February 4, 2008.^[8] As a member of the First Presidency, Eyring has dedicated the San Salvador El Salvador,^[9] Gilbert Arizona,^[10] Payson Utah,^[9] and Indianapolis Indiana^[11] temples, as well as rededicating the Buenos Aires Argentina^[12] and Mexico City Mexico temples.^[13] He officiated at the groundbreaking for the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple in 2011.^[14]

In 2014, after a meeting with Pope Francis,^[15][16] Eyring spoke at Humanum, "an International Interreligious Colloquium on The Complementarity of Man and Woman," held at the Vatican.^[17][18] It was the first time that a pope and a top LDS general authority had met.^[16]

Family

Eyring and his wife, Kathleen Johnson, were married in the church's Logan Temple in July 1962^[19] and they are the parents of six children (four sons and two daughters).^[6] Their sons include Henry J. Eyring, a vice president at BYU–Idaho, and Matthew J. Eyring, the Chief Strategy Innovation Officer of Vivint, a home automation company in North America.

Honors

• Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, University of Utah^[20]

Published works

• Eyring, Henry B. (2006). Because He First Loved Us: A Collection of Discourses. Deseret Book Company. ISBN 1-59038-637-X.
• —— (2004). To Draw Closer to God: A Collection of Discourses. Deseret Book. ISBN 1-59038-322-2.
• —— (2003). Go Forth to Serve. Deseret Book. ISBN 1-57008-946-9.
• —— (2002). Because He First Loved Us. Deseret Book. ISBN 1-57008-924-8.
• —— (1995). On Becoming a Disciple-Scholar: Lectures presented at the Brigham Young University Honors Program. Discipline and discipleship lecture series. Bookcraft. ISBN 1-57008-198-0.
• —— (August 1968), "Wise Advice for R and D.", PsycCRITIQUES (Stanford University, Stanford, CA) 13 (8): 398–400, doi:10.1037/009462, ISSN 1554-0138. Database:PsycINFO Electronic, accessed March 12, 2009
• —— (December 1966). "Some Sources of Uncertainty and Their Consequences in Engineering Design Projects". IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. EM-13 (4): 167–80. doi:10.1109/tem.1966.6447108.
• —— (1963). Evaluation of planning models for research and development projects (DBA thesis). [Boston] Graduate School of Business Administration, G.F. Baker Foundation, Harvard University. OCLC 12284394.

See also

• Council on the Disposition of the Tithes
• Glenn L. Pace, counselor with Eyring in the presiding bishopric

Notes

1. Apostolic seniority is generally understood to include all 15 ordained apostles (including the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles). Seniority is determined by date of ordination, not by age or other factors. If two apostles are ordained on the same day, the older of the two is typically ordained first.
   
   See Succession to the presidency and Heath, Steven H. (Summer 1987). "Notes on Apostolic Succession" (PDF). Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 20 (2): 44–56..
2. Hales, Robert D. (July 2008), "President Henry B. Eyring: Called of God", Ensign: 10
3. "We Are One", Ensign, May 2013.
4. "Elder W. Rolfe Kerr to Guide Church Educational System", Newsroom (LDS Church), 14 January 2005
5. Dobner, Jennifer (7 October 2007). "President of Mormon Church appoints new adviser". Houston Chronicle. (AP). Archived from the original on 21 May 2011.
6. "President Henry B. Eyring", Organization: General Authorities, retrieved 2014-08-19
7. "Church President Names New Leaders", Newsroom (LDS Church), 7 October 2007
8. "Thomas S. Monson Named 16th Church President", Newsroom (LDS Church), 4 February 2008
9. "San Salvador El Salvador Temple Dedicated", Newsroom (LDS Church), 2011-08-11
10. "Church Dedicates 142nd Temple", Newsroom [MormonNewsroom.org] (LDS Church), 2 March 2014
11. President Eyring dedicates temple in the Crossroads of America, Church News, 23 August 2015.
12. "Buenos Aires Temple Rededicated", Newsroom (LDS Church), 2012-09-10
13. "Mexico City Temple Is Rededicated", Newsroom (LDS Church), 2015-09-13
14. "Church Breaks Ground for Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Trujillo Peru Temples", Newsroom (LDS Church), September 17, 2011
15. Gallagher, Maggie (November 21, 2014). "Rome’s Extraordinary Ecumenical Event: What I and others learned from other faiths at a special event on the family". National Review.
16. Stack, Peggy Fletcher (November 17, 2014). "Pope, Mormon leader make history with a handshake". Salt Lake Tribune.
17. TRANSCRIPT: President Eyring Addresses the Vatican Summit on Marriage. Mormon Newsroom. Published: 18 November 2014.
18. http://humanum.it/en/program/
19. "President Henry B. Eyring: Called of God", Ensign, July 2008, pp. 8–15.
20. https://www.lds.org/church/news/president-eyring-receives-honorary-degree-from-university-of-utah?cid=HP_MO_5-11-2015_dCN_fCNWS_xLIDyC-3_&lang=eng

References

• "President Henry B. Eyring", Newsroom (LDS Church)
• Lund, Gerald N. (April 1996), "Elder Henry B. Eyring: Molded by 'Defining Influences'", Liahona: 10
• "Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric", Ensign, May 1985.

External links

Media related to Henry B. Eyring at Wikimedia Commons

• "General Authorities: President Henry B. Eyring", lds.org
• Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages: Henry B. Eyring

Multimedia

• "Pres. Henry B. Eyring – Humanum 2014". Humanum YouTube channel. November 18, 2014.

( – transcript: "President Eyring Addresses the Vatican Summit on Marriage". Vatican City: Newsroom (LDS Church). November 18, 2014.)