Henry Bennion Eyring (born May 31, 1933) is an American educational administrator, author, and religious leader. Eyring has been the Second Counselor to Russell M. Nelson in the

First Presidency Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (also known as the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is the highest presiding or governing body. Present-day denominations of the movement led by a First Presidency ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

(LDS Church) since January 14, 2018. Previously, Eyring was the First Counselor to

Thomas S. Monson Thomas Spencer Monson (August 21, 1927 – January 2, 2018) was an American religious leader, author, and the 16th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). As president, he was considered by adherents of the re ...

in the First Presidency from 2008 until Monson's death on January 2, 2018. Eyring was the Second Counselor to

Gordon B. Hinckley Gordon Bitner Hinckley (June 23, 1910 – January 27, 2008) was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from March 1995 until his death in January 200 ...

in the First Presidency from October 6, 2007, until Hinckley's death on January 27, 2008. While he has been a general authority of the church, Eyring has also served in the

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...

, the First Quorum of the Seventy, and the Presiding Bishopric. As a result, he is the only person so far to have served in all four groups of top leadership in the church. Eyring has served twice as Commissioner of the Church Educational System. Currently, he is the fifth most senior

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

among the ranks of the church.

Early life

Eyring was born in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, the second child of Henry Eyring, then a professor at Princeton and later the dean of the graduate school at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

and president of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

, 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. He 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 had only the Eyring family. As a teenager, Eyring and his family moved to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

, where his father took a post at the

Military service and education

Eyring spent two years in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

, stationed at

Sandia Base Sandia Base was the principal nuclear weapons installation of the United States Department of Defense from 1946 to 1971. It was located on the southeastern edge of Albuquerque, New Mexico. For 25 years, the top-secret Sandia Base and its subsidi ...

in New Mexico. In New Mexico, Eyring served as a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

missionary for the LDS Church. Eyring had been in the ROTC at the University of Utah. While in the Air Force, he served as a liaison between military officers and scientists. His main responsibility was to analyze data from weapons tests of nuclear weapons. At the end of the assignment, he gave a report and ended up meeting in person with a collection of several leading generals. He had previously received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

from the University of Utah. He went on to earn both

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

and doctoral degrees in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School, before embarking on a career in academia. Over the summer after his first year at Harvard, Eyring did an internship with

Arthur D. Little Arthur D. Little is an international management consulting firm originally headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1886 and formally incorporated in 1909 by Arthur Dehon Little, an MIT chemist who had discovered acetate. ...

as a consultant for

Abitibi Power and Paper Company Abitibi Power and Paper Company Limited was a forest products business based in Montreal, Quebec, that was founded in 1914. The firm was a mainstay of the Canadian newsprint industry in the first half of the 20th century, and now forms part of A ...

. He did an analysis to study how to improve the process of river logging. His suggestion was to abandon river logging and turn to truck transport of logs, but a combination of not calculating the issue deeply enough and having a CEO of the company who had risen through the ranks from being a river logger prevented Eyring's suggestions from being adopted then. While studying at Harvard, Eyring was heavily influenced by

Georges Doriot Georges Frédéric Doriot (September 24, 1899 – June 1987) was a French-American known for his prolific careers in military, academics, business and education. An émigré from France, Doriot became a professor of Industrial Management at Har ...

, who offered Eyring a chance to work with him and Ken Olsen, the founder of Digital Equipment Company. Eyring chose instead to pursue a doctorate in business.

Academic and business career

In the fall of 1962, Eyring began work as a professor at Stanford University. He completed his doctorate in business in the summer of 1963. That summer, Eyring did a fellowship with the RAND Corporation. Eyring had married his wife, Kathleen, the summer before he started at Stanford, and they spent their first year of married life moving through various homes his real estate developer father-in-law was in the process of refurbishing. They then spent the next 10 years living in the guest house of his in-laws' property. Among Eyring's associates at Stanford were Roger Sant and Ed Zschau. Eyring worked with Zschau in the founding of the computer company System Industries. Eyring was an associate professor of business at the Stanford Graduate School of Business from 1962 to 1971. He was also a Sloan Visiting Faculty Fellow at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. At MIT, he took multiple courses in human behavior, including courses from

Douglas McGregor Douglas Murray McGregor (September 6, 1906 – October 1, 1964) was an American management professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and president of Antioch College from 1948 to 1954. He also taught at the Indian Institute of Management ...

, who died of a heart attack while Eyring was at MIT, and also Ed Schein and

Warren Bennis Warren Gamaliel Bennis (March 8, 1925 – July 31, 2014) was an American scholar, organizational consultant and author, widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field of Leadership studies.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 William Rolfe Kerr (born June 29, 1935) is an emeritus general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He served previously as the fifteenth Commissioner of Church Education and as president of the Logan Utah ...

LDS Church service

Among other callings in the LDS Church, Eyring has served as a regional representative,

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

and member of the Sunday School General Board. Eyring served as an early-morning seminary teacher early in his time as a professor at Stanford University, and as bishop of the Stanford singles ward later on. Eyring served as president of

Ricks College Ricks may refer to: People * Andre Ricks (born 1996), American basketball player * Bob Ricks (21st century), American police chief * Christopher Ricks (born 1933), British literary critic and scholar * Doug Ricks, American politician and member ...

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 Howard William Hunter (November 14, 1907 – March 3, 1995) was an American lawyer and the 14th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1994 to 1995. His nine-month presidential tenure is the shortest ...

, Eyring was sustained as a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on April 1, 1995 and ordained an

later that week. Eyring was sustained as Second Counselor in the church's First Presidency on October 6, 2007, 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

, Eyring was called and set apart as the First Counselor on February 3, 2008. The new First Presidency, with Monson as president, was announced on February 4, 2008. As a member of the First Presidency, Eyring has dedicated the San Salvador El Salvador, Gilbert Arizona, Payson Utah, Indianapolis Indiana,"President Eyring dedicates temple in the Crossroads of America"
''

Church News The ''Church News'' (or ''LDS Church News'') is a weekly tabloid-sized supplement to the ''Deseret News'' and the ''MormonTimes'', a Salt Lake City, Utah newspaper owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It is t ...

'', 23 August 2015. and

Philadelphia Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...

Temples where he had also presided at the groundbreaking in 2011 as well as rededicating the Buenos Aires Argentina and Mexico City Mexico Temples. In 2014, after a meeting with

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

, Eyring spoke at Humanum, "an International Interreligious Colloquium on The Complementarity of Man and Woman," held in

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

. It was the first time that a pope and a top LDS general authority ever met.

Family

Eyring and his wife, Kathleen Johnson, met at a YSA meeting held at

Rindge, New Hampshire Rindge is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,476 at the 2020 census, up from 6,014 at the 2010 census. Rindge is home to Franklin Pierce University, the Cathedral of the Pines and part of Annett State ...

at the Cathedral of the Pines in the spring of 1960. They became further acquainted at a meeting at the LDS Longfellow Park Chapel in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the next summer. Johnson was a native of Palo Alto and was a student at Stanford University. She had previously studied summers at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

and

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

and was studying at Harvard University the summer she met Eyring. Wilbur Cox, the LDS Church's district president (to whom Eyring was serving as a counselor), made accommodations to facilitate Eyring's dating Johnson. After an intense courtship that first summer, Eyring and Johnson continued courting with her making multiple cross-country airplane trips until they were engaged early in 1961. They were married in the LDS Church's

Logan Temple The Logan Utah Temple (formerly the Logan Temple) was completed in 1884, and is the fourth temple built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Located in the city of Logan, Utah, it was the second temple built in the Rocky Mountain ...

in July 1962, with the marriage performed by his uncle, Spencer W. Kimball. They are the parents of six children (four sons and two daughters). Their sons include Henry J. Eyring, president of BYU–Idaho; and Matthew J. Eyring, the Chief Strategy Innovation Officer of

Vivint Vivint is a public smart home company in the United States and Canada. It was founded by Keith Nellesen and Todd Pedersen in 1999. In 2012, The Blackstone Group acquired Vivint for more than $2 billion. In January 2020, the company completed ...

, a home automation company in North America. Eyring is a first cousin once-removed of former Michigan Governor

George W. Romney George Wilcken Romney (July 8, 1907 – July 26, 1995) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as chairman and president of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd gover ...

; his paternal grandmother was Romney's aunt. Romney's son, Mitt, was the 2012 Republican Presidential nominee and a former Massachusetts governor who is currently serving in Congress as the junior senator from Utah.

Honors

*Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters,

(2015) *Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Utah Valley University (2017)

Published works

* * * * * * * *. Database:PsycINFO Electronic, accessed March 12, 2009 * * ;Speeches * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notes

References

* *
"Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric"
''

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

'', May 1985.

External links

*
"General Authorities: President Henry B. Eyring"
churchofjesuschrist.org

;Multimedia * :( – transcript: ) {{DEFAULTSORT:Eyring, Henry B. 1933 births American general authorities (LDS Church) Apostles (LDS Church) Commissioners of Church Education (LDS Church) Counselors in the First Presidency (LDS Church) Counselors in the Presiding Bishopric (LDS Church) Harvard Business School alumni Living people Presidents of Brigham Young University–Idaho Stanford University Graduate School of Business faculty University of Utah alumni Sunday School (LDS Church) people Latter Day Saints from New Jersey Latter Day Saints from Utah Latter Day Saints from California Latter Day Saints from Idaho Latter Day Saints from Massachusetts Latter Day Saints from New Mexico