Jack Noel Gerard (born December 15, 1957) has been a general authority of

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 Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church) since April 2018. He previously served for ten years as head of the

American Petroleum Institute The American Petroleum Institute (API) is the largest U.S. trade association for the oil and natural gas industry. It claims to represent nearly 600 corporations involved in production, refinement, distribution, and many other aspects of the pet ...

(API), the petroleum and natural gas industry lobby group in the United States.

Early life and education

Gerard was raised in Mud Lake, Idaho. His father was a salesman of

John Deere Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...

tractors. For a year out of high school Gerard was a student at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The University ...

. He then served as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

for the LDS Church in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. He later graduated from

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

(GWU).

Career

Following college, he worked on the staffs of

George V. Hansen George Vernon Hansen (September 14, 1930 – August 14, 2014) was a United States Republican Party, Republican politics, politician from the U.S. state of Idaho. He served in the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representative ...

and James A. McClure, who served in the U.S. Congress and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

respectively, representing

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

. In 1990, when McClure left the Senate, Gerard followed him into the private sector, becoming part of the public relations firm McClure, Gerard & Neuenschwander. Gerard later ran a lobbying firm with McClure. He then was head of the

National Mining Association The National Mining Association (NMA) is a United States trade organization that lists itself as the voice of the mining industry in Washington, D.C. NMA was formed in 1995, and has more than 300 corporate members. History The National Mining Ass ...

(2000–2005) and then the American Chemistry Council (2005–2008). In his role as head of API, Gerard fought successfully to allow crude oil exports. He also opposed increased taxes and other measures that would hurt industry profits. Gerard expanded the organization's public outreach efforts to include the AFL–CIO and Congressional Hispanic Caucus, while trimming the number of API's employees and narrowing the scope of API's lobbying priorities. He also led efforts to fund and support citizen rallies in support of API's legislative priorities, drawing accusations of

astroturfing Astroturfing is the practice of masking the sponsors of a message or organization (e.g., political, advertising, religious or public relations) to make it appear as though it originates from and is supported by grassroots participants. It is a p ...

from critics after a leaked memo from Gerard to local API organizers was published by

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

. In the 2012 U.S. presidential election, Gerard was a major backer of

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

's bid for president. In the LDS Church, Gerard has served as a ward mission leader, scoutmaster, Young Men advisor,

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 ca ...

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the McClean Virginia

Stake Stake may refer to: Entertainment * '' Stake: Fortune Fighters'', a 2003 video game * ''The Stake'', a 1915 silent short film * "The Stake", a 1977 song by The Steve Miller Band from '' Book of Dreams'' * ''Stakes'' (miniseries), a Cartoon Netw ...

, and area seventy in the church's North America Northeast

Area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an obje ...

(covering the US from Virginia north, and as far west as Indiana, and Canada from Ontario east) from 2010 to 2016. Gerard was also for a time the chairman of the

National Capital Area Council The National Capital Area Council (NCAC) is a local council of the Boy Scouts of America within the Northeast Region that serves the Washington metropolitan area, including Washington, D.C., portions of Maryland and Virginia, and the U.S. Vir ...

of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

. He also for a time was co-chair and later a board member of GWU's Graduate School of Political Management. After becoming a general authority in the LDS Church, Gerard was appointed as the executive director of the Public Affairs Department. In July 2018, he spoke at the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

Annual Convention, announcing an educational and employment skills joint initiative between the LDS Church and the NAACP. In this position, he was a key voice in the church's successful advocacy for the state of Utah to pass new laws regulating medical marijuana.

Personal life

Gerard is married to Claudette Neff and they are the parents of eight children.Mormon Newsroom bio of Gerard
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References

External links

General Authorities and General Officers: Elder Jack N. Gerard
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerard, Jack N. Living people Latter Day Saints from Washington, D.C. Latter Day Saints from Idaho University of Idaho alumni General authority seventies (LDS Church) 1957 births People from Jefferson County, Idaho American Mormon missionaries in Australia 20th-century Mormon missionaries George Washington University Law School alumni American lobbyists Idaho lawyers