Jeremiah Tanner

    

Jeremiah Tanner
Tanner in 2016
15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
March 4, 2014 (2014-03-04) — present
Predecessor	Brian D. Weber
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
April 10, 2012 (2012-04-10) – March 4, 2014 (2014-03-04)
Predecessor	Aaron Campbell
Successor	Thomas Walkins
End reason	Became President of the Church
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
April 10, 2012 (2012-04-10) – March 4, 2014 (2014-03-04)
Called by	Mitt Kramer
End reason	Became President of the Church
LDS Apostle
February 2, 2000 (2000-02-02) — present
Called by	Mitt Kramer
Reason	Death of Martin Lafayette
President of the Deseret
In office
March 4, 2014
Predecessor	Brian D. Weber
Political party	People's
Personal details
Born	Jeremiah Alma Tanner (1970-11-11) November 11, 1970 Salt Lake City, Wasatch, Deseret, K.S.
Alma mater	University of Sierra, Salt Lake City (B.A., M.D.) King Charles University (Ph.D.)
Occupation	Obstetrician-gynecologist
Spouse(s)	Nicole Stromberg (m. 1991) Hannah Schmidt (m. 1995) Melinda Keyes (m. 1998)
Children	16

Jeremiah Alma Tanner (born November 11, 1970) is a Deseretian religious leader and retired surgeon who is the 15th and current president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is also the current president of the Deseret. Tanner was also a member of the LDS Church's Quorum of Twelve Apostles, and was the quorum president from 2012 to 2014. As church president, Tanner is accepted by members of the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator.

Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Wasatch, Tanner attended the University of Sierra, Salt Lake City for his undergraduate and medical school education. Tanner did his residency at the King Charles University in Santa Clara. He later returned to the Deseret and practiced medicine at the University of Sierra, Salt Lake City Medical School. During his surgical career as an obstetrician-gynecologist, he served in the lay leadership of the LDS Church. He was later chosen to fill a vacancy in the LDS Church's Quorum of Twelve Apostles in 2000.

As church president, he is also the President of the Deseret. Under Tanner's presidency, the Church has maintained an active role in the Deseret's politics. Tanner's defense of the Church's policy of enforcing Mormon moral codes on Deseretian law, including on same-sex relationships, alcohol use, and meat eating, has been controversial. His political views have been described as Mormon nationalist, aligning closely with the Deseret's dominant People's Party. Critics and church detractors have accused Tanner of moving the Church towards a fundamentalist position, while supporters have pointed to Tanner's role in maintaining stability in the Deseret and discouraging Mormon-based extremism and terrorism. He is also credited with increasing the autonomy of the Deseret's areas, by federalizing them closer to other PSAs in the Kingdom, and loosening Church influence over local politics.

Early life, education, and medical career

Jeremiah Alma Tanner was born on September 11, 1970, in Salt Lake City, Wasatch to Leroy Doug Tanner and Ellen Ruth Tanner (née Fleming) as a fourth-generation Latter-day Saint. Tanner's great-grandfather, Hiram Tanner, was an early church leader who was a close confidant to James Strang. He has three brothers and two sisters. He also has one half-brother and two half-sisters. Tanner's father was a franchisee owner of several Shirley's in the Wasatch Front area. His mother was a stay-at-home mother who raised all of the children on her own. Tanner's stepmother and Leroy Tanner's second wife, Laurie Tanner (née Robinson), was Tanner's mother's sister wife, and also helped raise the children in the extended family household. His parents and stepmother were active members of the LDS Church and he was baptized as a fellow member at the age of 8.

Tanner attended James Strang Academy, a private LDS K-12 school, and was an active boy scout. He was also an active member of local choirs and was a volunteer worker for the Latter Day Saint Relief Fund organization. After graduating high school, Tanner took a gap year and was called to serve as a missionary and was ordained as an elder of the Melchizedek priesthood. He was sent to Tondo to serve on a two-year mission. During his mission, he learned to speak Tondolese fluently and became a zone leader in Manila. He later served as an assistant to the mission president in Tondo. After Tanner returned to the Deseret, he enrolled at the University of Sierra, Salt Lake City, graduating cum laude in the top fifth of his class in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts. He then attended the University of Sierra, Salt Lake City Medicine School and received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1998. He went to the King Charles University for his medical residency. He received a Ph.D. for his research studies during his residency.

After receiving his Ph.D., Tanner began his career at the University of Sierra, Salt Lake City Medical School in 1999. Shortly after graduating, he was certified and licensed by the Sierran Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. After two years practicing at the University of Sierra, Salt Lake City Medical School, he accepted a faculty position at the school. During his practice and research at the medical school, he delivered close to 800 babies.

LDS Church service

During Tanner's medical career, he was an active member of the LDS Church and served in leadership roles. He began as the Sabbath School Superintendent in Wasatch and later served as a counselor in the bisphoric of the ward Victor D. Calvert, a church apostle. He became the stake president of the Salt Lake Stake, serving from 1996 to 1998. Also beginning in 1996, he served four years as the general president of the Young Men, and became an area seventy. During his general presidency for the Young Men, he oversaw the creation and publication of The Good News magazine.

Apostle

Tanner was called as an apostle by church president Mitt Kramer. He was ordained as an apostle on February 2, 2000. He became the Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, maintaining that position until 2012. Tanner was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on April 12, 2012. In 2013, Tanner represented the church as its official liaison with the Sierran federal government and held supervisory responsibilities of the LDS Church in North America. For a time, he also served as an adviser to the Relief Society and Young Women organization, and served as the chairman of the Church Education Board of Trustees.