Gerrit W. Gong

Elder Gerrit W. Gong, 56, had been serving as a member of the Fifth Quorum of the Seventy in the Utah South Area when called to serve in the First Quorum of the Seventy at General Conference, April 2010.

Elder Gong received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Asian and university studies at Brigham Young University in 1977. In 1979 he received a master of philosophy and in 1981 a Ph.D. in international relations from Oxford University. In 1985 he served as special assistant to undersecretary of state at the U.S. State Department and then in 1987 served as special assistant to the U.S. ambassador in Beijing, China. From 1989 to 2001 he served in many positions for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. Currently he is the assistant to the president for planning and assessment at Brigham Young University.

Elder Gong has served in numerous Church callings, including full-time missionary in Taiwan, stake high councilor, high priests group leader, stake Sunday School president, bishop’s counselor, seminary teacher, bishop, stake mission president and stake president.

Gerrit Walter Gong was born in Redwood City, California, on 23 December 1953. He married Susan Lindsay in January 1980. They are the parents of four children. Elder and Sister Gong reside in Provo, Utah.