President Russell M. Nelson has often spoken about the fateful day in medical school when he was instructed never to touch the human heart. In later years, he would become part of a pioneering effort to make heart surgery possible, and sure enough, President Nelson has touched and mended many human hearts in his lifetime. What he may not have anticipated was how many hearts he would touch through his testimony, words of wisdom, and inspiring example.
Early Life and Education
Russell Marion Nelson was born September 9, 1924, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Marion C. and Edna Anderson Nelson. Though his parents were not active in the Church throughout his childhood, Russell was occasionally sent to Sunday School and his heart was stirred by gospel truths. At sixteen years old, he was baptized.
In high school, he participated in a variety of extracurricular activities, including debate, choir, musical theater, and yearbook. He also enjoyed playing the piano. He graduated as valedictorian at sixteen, then he earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Utah in 1945.
Marriage and Family
Early on in his time at the university, President Nelson participated in a school play, where Dantzel White, the lead soprano, captured his attention. Three years later, in 1945, the two were married in the Salt Lake Temple. They enjoyed many years together and were blessed with ten children—nine daughters and one son.
Dantzel supported President Nelson through years of tight finances and long workweeks. He, in turn, supported her in her needs and interests. For example, Thursday was designated as an evening he would be home so that she could do what she liked, including volunteering at LDS Hospital and singing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (now the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square).
Both parents showed their love by making it a priority to spend time with each of their children. Because President Nelson had to travel frequently, he often took one of the children with him to spend some one-on-one time together. President Nelson and Dantzel did not force participation, but their children learned to enjoy family prayer, scripture study, and home evening. As a family, they enjoyed snow skiing and waterskiing, playing ping pong and tennis, and going horseback riding once a year. President Nelson and Dantzel also instilled their love for music in their children, with each one learning an instrument.
Post-Secondary Education and Career
Two years after marrying Dantzel, President Nelson graduated summa cum laude with an MD in 1947 at the age of twenty-two. Of his career choice, he has said, “The finest career that would be available to a human being would be that of a mother. Inasmuch as that was out of the question for me, I reasoned that the second occupation would be medicine. There I could help people every day.”1
After earning his MD, President Nelson completed an internship at the University of Minnesota. Following his internship, he spent three years on a team that would make medical history. This team developed the artificial heart-lung machine, making the first open-heart surgery possible in 1951. This development saved the lives of countless patients.
President Nelson served as a medic in the United States Army for two years during the Korean War, traveling to Korea, Japan, and Washington, DC. After a year of residency in Boston, Massachusetts, he returned to the University of Minnesota, where he earned his PhD in 1954. The Nelsons then returned to Utah, where he worked as a research professor, a director of the Thoracic Surgery Residency at the University of Utah, and the chairman of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at LDS Hospital. President Nelson performed the first open-heart surgery in the state of Utah in 1955, making Utah the third state to hit this landmark.
He has authored many articles and textbook chapters, lectured nationally and internationally, and served as president, director, or chairman of several medical associations. His achievements, expertise, and commitment in his field have earned him high accolades, including honorary doctoral degrees from Brigham Young University, Utah State University, and Snow College; professorships at three universities in the People’s Republic of China; and prestigious honors from the American Heart Association, the University of Utah alumni association, and the American Academy of Achievement.
Church Service and Recent Years
In 1964, President Nelson was called by President Spencer W. Kimball, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, to be president of the Bonneville Stake in Utah. President Kimball said, “Everybody we’ve interviewed around here says you might be all right, but you don’t have the time. Do you have the time?”
President Nelson responded, “I don’t know about that, but I have the faith!”2 That faith in God carried him as he continued to serve both his patients and the members of his stake. In 1971 he was called to be the General Sunday School president, and in 1984 he became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In his service as an apostle, President Nelson made a special effort to speak to members around the world in their native language, often ending his talks with his testimony in Spanish, Russian, German, Mandarin, French, and other languages. He also served the Council of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve as organist at their weekly meetings. In July of 2015 he was called as the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
In 2005, Dantzel, his beloved wife, passed away. However, the following year, a new companion and support entered President Nelson’s life when he married Wendy L. Watson, then a marriage and family therapy professor at BYU. They now travel and speak together often, uplifting and instructing members of the Church worldwide.
In January of 2018, following the passing of President Thomas S. Monson, President Russell M. Nelson was sustained as the seventeenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His more than thirty years of service as an apostle had prepared him physically and spiritually to lead the Church, including through the COVID-19 pandemic. As the president of the Church, he has extended many invitations to Church members, including to gather Israel, seek revelation, and strengthen their spiritual foundation. During his presidency, numerous new temples have been announced, as well as the renovations of historical temples. Several policy changes have also allowed the Church to better address the needs of a global membership.
In a general conference address following his ninety-ninth birthday, President Nelson remarked, “‘What have I learned in nearly a century of living?’ . . . I have learned that Heavenly Father’s plan for us is fabulous, that what we do in this life really matters, and that the Savior’s Atonement is what makes our Father’s plan possible.”3
Notes
- 1. Gerry Avant, “Elder Nelson: Husband, Father are Highest Titles,” Church News, 16 February 1986, 4. In Spencer J. Condie, Russell M. Nelson: Father, Surgeon, Apostle (2003), 39–40; see also Sheri Dew, Insights from a Prophet’s Life: Russell M. Nelson (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2019).
- 2. “News of the Church: Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,” Ensign, May 1984.
- 3. Russell M. Nelson, “Think Celestial!” Liahona, November 2023.
