Ronald A. Rasband

Ronald Anderson Rasband (born February 6, 1951) has been a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since 2000 and a member of the church's seven-man Presidency of the Seventy since 2005. He has been the senior and presiding member of the Presidency since 2009.

Biography

Rasband was born in Salt Lake City, Utah to Rulon Hawkins Rasband and Verda Anderson. He served as a Mormon missionary in the Eastern States Mission. The mission was headquartered in New York City and encompassed the whole New York Metro area, while also stretching into western New York and Pennsylvania.

After Rasband returned from his mission, he married Melanie Twitchell in 1973 and they are the parents of five children.

In 1976, Rasband joined the Huntsman Container Company as a sales representative. In 1987, he was appointed president and chief operating officer of Huntsman Chemical Corporation. In this capacity he worked closely with Jon Huntsman, Sr. He was later a member of the corporation's board of directors.

Rasband served previously in the LDS Church as a bishop, Temple Square missionary guide, and was a member of the church's Pioneer Sesquicentennial Committee. In 1996, Rasband was called to return to the area where he had been a missionary, to serve as president of New York New York North Mission. The mission's geographic area not only included Manhattan and the Bronx, but also stretched upriver to the area of West Point, as well as the far western portion of Connecticut. One of his initiatives was to have missionaries serve as volunteers at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, in order to make the missionaries more visible.

Rasband was called as a general authority and member of the First Quorum of the Seventy in April 2000. As a general authority, Rasband has served in several area presidencies, including as a counselor in the presidency of the Europe Central Area. While serving in this position he dedicated the first chapel the church built in the Czech Republic.^[1] He was later president of the Utah Salt Lake City Area and executive director of the church's Temple Department.

In 2005, Rasband was called as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, with responsibility for the church's North America Northwest and North America West areas. In August 2007, he was assigned to the Utah North, Utah South, and Utah Salt Lake City areas.^[2] In April 2009, Rasband became the senior and presiding member of the presidency when Neil L. Andersen was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Notes

References

• "Elder Ronald A. Rasband", Liahona, July 2000

External links

• "General Authorities: Elder Ronald A. Rasband", lds.org