Cecil O. Samuelson

Cecil O. Samuelson was appointed president of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, USA, on May 1, 2003. He was a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Samuelson was born August 1, 1941, and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Samuelson interrupted his studies for a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Utah to serve a mission for the Mormon Church in Scotland. After earning a master’s degree in educational psychology and a medical degree, he completed his internship and residency at Duke University in North Carolina. He spent the next seventeen years practicing rheumatology and serving on the University of Utah medical faculty, including working as the university’s vice president for health sciences and Dean of the School of Medicine. He accepted a position at Intermountain Health Care as a senior vice president.

He has received numerous scholastic honors and is the author or co-author of 48 original publications, eight books or chapters of books and 13 abstracts. He also has served as a director, officer or member of several national medical and hospital organizations.

In June of 2001, Elder Samuelson was called into the Presidency of the Seventy. This call was to last but two years when in 2003 he was released from the presidency and appointed president of Brigham Young University, succeeding Merrill J. Bateman in that position. He was granted emeritus status on October 1, 2011, and retired as president of BYU in May 2014. In November 2014 he became president of the Salt Lake Temple.

President Samuelson began his administration as president of BYU with a call for the faculty to "raise the bar" in their expectations of students. He also initiated a revamping of Student Housing to allow it to better augment the goals of the university. President Samuelson gave a talk in September 2007 to BYU students on the theme "The Year of the Constitution". In his talk he stated that the Constitution of the United States is not complete yet, and must be altered to adapt to a changing world. He also stated, in agreement with the doctrine of LDS Church, that the Constitution is a divinely inspired document (Wikipedia.org).

Samuelson is married to the former Sharon Giauque. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on 25 November 1964. Together they have five children and twelve grandchildren.

Sources

• News of the Church: Elder Cecil O. Samuelson, Jr...," Ensign, Nov. 1994.
• "Two New in Presidency of Seventy," Church News Archives, June 16, 2001.
• "Changes announced in leadership positions," Church News Archives, April 5, 2003.
• 2005 Church Almanac, p.39.
• Wikipedia.org
• Unicom.byu.edu