Cecil O. Samuelson

Who is Cecil O. Samuelson?

Cecil Osborn Samuelson, Jr. is the 12th and current president of Brigham Young University and is an emeritus general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Prior to holding these positions, Samuelson had worked as a professor of medicine and later dean of the school of medicine at the University of Utah, and senior vice president of Intermountain Health Care.

Samuelson served as a full-time LDS Church missionary in Scotland as a youth and has continued church service in his adulthood. He was appointed to the First Quorum of the Seventy in 1994, and while a general authority he served as an area president, in the Presidency of the Seventy, and as the general president of the church's Sunday School organization.

While serving in the area presidency of the North America West Area, Samuelson was a signatory to a May 11, 1999 letter to all adult congregants in California in advance of voting on Proposition 22. The letter advised LDS members in California to "do all you can by donating your means and time to assure a successful vote."

Samuelson began his administration as president of BYU with a call for the faculty to "raise the bar" in their expectations of students. He also initiated a revamping of student housing to allow it to better augment the goals of the university. Samuelson gave a talk in September 2007 to BYU students on the theme "The Year of the Constitution". In his talk he stated that the Constitution of the United States is not complete yet, and must be altered to adapt to a changing world. He also stated, in agreement with the doctrine of LDS Church, that the Constitution is a divinely inspired document.