W. Christopher Waddell

Who is W. Christopher Waddell?

Wayne Christopher Waddell has been a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 2011.

Born in Manhattan Beach, California, Waddell was a missionary for the LDS Church in Spain from 1978 to 1980. He earned a bachelors degree in history from San Diego State University, where he was a member of the volleyball team, earning All-American honors his senior year. Beginning in 1984, he worked for Merrill Lynch in San Diego and eventually became first vice president of investments for the firm. He completed some work in the MBA program at Brigham Young University.

In the LDS Church, Waddell has been a bishop, high councilor, mission president's counselor, and stake president. From 2006 to 2009 he was president of the church's Spain Barcelona Mission. From 2009 to 2011 he was an area seventy and a member of the Fifth Quorum of the Seventy.

Waddell became a full-time general authority of the church in April 2011, when he was added to the First Quorum of the Seventy. Beginning in 2011, he was assigned as a counselor in the church's South America Northwest Area.

Waddell and his wife, Carol Stansel, are the parents of four children.