Russell Marion Nelson Sr. is an American religious leader, author, philanthropist, and former surgeon, who is affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) as its 17th and current president. He has previously served as a member of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for about 34 years and in 2015, became the quorum president. After the death of his predecessor, Thomas S. Monson, in January 2018, Nelson assumed the role of the Church President. Born and raised in Utah, Nelson received his medical degree from the University of Utah and then went on to get a PhD from the University of Minnesota. He was part of the research team that built the heart-lung machine which was instrumental during the first ever human open-heart surgery using mechanical takeover of heart and lungs (cardiopulmonary bypass) in 1951. When the Korean War broke out, Nelson enlisted and served for two years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He later spent a year in surgical training at the Massachusetts General Hospital. As a surgeon and medical scientist, he was a prominent figure in the field of cardiothoracic surgery and was appointed as the president of the Society for Vascular Surgery and the Utah Medical Association. Between 1971 and 1979, he was the General President of LDS Church's Sunday School.