Ronald Anderson Rasband (born February 6, 1951) is a member of 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 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). He has been a general authority of the church since 2000. Currently, he is the eleventh most senior apostle in the church.

Early life

Rasband was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, to Rulon Hawkins Rasband and Verda Anderson. He graduated from Olympus High School and later served a

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

for the LDS Church in the Eastern States

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

. The mission was headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and encompassed the whole New York Metro area, while also stretching into western

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He spent much of his mission assigned to areas of the city mainly consisting of co-op apartments. Rasband studied 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 ...

. After Rasband returned from his mission, he married Melanie Twitchell in 1973 and they are the parents of five children."Elder Ronald A. Rasband"
'' Liahona'', November 2015.

Business career

In 1976, Rasband joined the Huntsman Container Corporation as a sales representative based in Ohio. This company would later be sold to Keyes Fibre Company. As of 1982, Rasband was living in

Ridgefield, Connecticut Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York ...

. He was recruited to join the new Huntsman Chemical Corporation by

Jon Huntsman Sr. Jon Meade Huntsman Sr. (June 21, 1937 – February 2, 2018) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder and executive chairman of Huntsman Corporation, a global manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals. Huntsman p ...

In 1987, Rasband was appointed president and chief operating officer of Huntsman Chemical. Rasband was later a member of the corporation's board of directors.

LDS Church leadership

Rasband served as a member of the high council in the University of Utah 1st Stake from 1987 to 1989."Elder Ronald A. Rasband biography"
''

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 ...

'', April 29, 2000. He was

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 ...

of the University of Utah 10th

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

from 1989 to 1993. From 1993 to 1997 he was a member of the church's

Pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...

Sesquicentennial Committee. In 1996, Rasband was called to return to the area where he had been a missionary, to serve as

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 New York New York North Mission. The mission's geographic area not only included

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, but also stretched upriver to the area of

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

, as well as the far western portion of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. One of his initiatives was to have missionaries serve as volunteers at

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...

and the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...

, in order to make the missionaries more visible.

General authority

Rasband was called as a general authority and member of the

First Quorum of the Seventy First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

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 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 ...

. While serving in this position he dedicated the first chapel the church built in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. He was later president of the Utah Salt Lake City

and executive director of the church's Temple Department. In 2005, Rasband was called as a member of the

Presidency of the Seventy A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...

, with responsibility for the church's North America Northwest and North America West

areas 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 or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an op ...

. In August 2007, he was assigned to the Utah North, Utah South, and Utah Salt Lake City

. In April 2009, Rasband became the senior and presiding member of the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

when Neil L. Andersen was called to the Quorum of the Twelve. He served in this role until October 2015.

Quorum of the Twelve

In October 2015, Rasband was sustained as an

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 ...

and member of the Quorum of the Twelve. As an apostle, he is accepted by the church as a

prophet, seer and revelator Prophet, seer, and revelator is an ecclesiastical title used in the Latter Day Saint movement. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is the largest denomination of the movement, and it currently applies the terms to the membe ...

. He was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve along with Gary E. Stevenson and

Dale G. Renlund Dale Gunnar Renlund (born November 13, 1952) is an American religious leader and former cardiologist who serves in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He has been a general authority ...

, filling vacancies created by the 2015 deaths of

L. Tom Perry Lowell Tom Perry (August 5, 1922 – May 30, 2015) was an American businessman and religious leader who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1974 until his deat ...

Boyd K. Packer Boyd Kenneth Packer (September 10, 1924 – July 3, 2015) was an American religious leader and educator who served as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (LDS Church), president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jes ...

and

Richard G. Scott Richard Gordon Scott (November 7, 1928 – September 22, 2015) was an American scientist and religious leader who served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Scott was b ...

. This was the first time since 1906 that three new apostles were sustained at once. They are the 98th, 99th and 100th members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the church's history. In August 2018, Rasband threw the ceremonial first pitch for the annual LDS Night of the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

Community service

Rasband has served as a member of the National Advisory Board for

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

Marriott School of Management The Marriott School of Business is the business school of Brigham Young University (BYU), a private university owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and located in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1891 and renamed i ...

. He has also been a member of the Board of Citizens for Positive Community Values, a Salt Lake City-based organization, and of the University of Utah's International Advisory Board. On January 17, 2018, when Utah Governor

Gary Herbert Gary Richard Herbert (born May 7, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 17th Governor of Utah from 2009 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the National Governors Association during the 2015–2016 cycle. Herbert wo ...

announced establishment of a task force to address teen

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

, Rasband participated in the announcement and will serve as a member of the task force.

References

External links

General Authorities and General Officers: Elder Ronald A. Rasband
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasband, Ronald A. 1951 births 20th-century Mormon missionaries American Mormon missionaries in the United States American chief operating officers American general authorities (LDS Church) Apostles (LDS Church) Latter Day Saints from Connecticut Latter Day Saints from New York (state) Latter Day Saints from Ohio Latter Day Saints from Utah Living people Members of the First Quorum of the Seventy (LDS Church) Mission presidents (LDS Church) Presidents of the Seventy (LDS Church)