Three more Seventies were sustained to the First Quorum of the Seventy during the opening session of general conference on Oct. 1: Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander, who had been a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy since April 6, 1991; Elder Andrew W. Peterson and Elder Cecil O. Samuelson Jr.
With the new callings and the changes announced in this conference there are now 39 members of the First Quorum of the Seventy and 33 members of the Second Quorum of the Seventy.Elder Neuenschwander, 55, is currently president of the Europe Area.
He is a native of Salt Lake City, a graduate of Weber State College (now Weber State University) in Ogden, Utah, and of BYU. He holds a doctorate from Syracuse University in New York.
After teaching Russian at the University of Utah and BYU, he held a position with what is now the Church's Family History Department and helped establish microfilming projects throughout eastern Europe. In the late 1980s he was assigned to preside over missionary efforts in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Greece, Egypt, Turkey and Cyprus, and later initiated missionary efforts in Bulgaria, Romania and parts of what was then the Soviet Union.
Elder Neuenschwander was born in Salt Lake City Oct. 6, 1931, to George Henry and Genevieve Bramwell Neuenschwander. He and his wife, LeAnn Clement Neuenschwander, have four children.
Elder Peterson, 47, has practiced dentistry in Salt Lake City since graduating from the University of the Pacific Dental School in 1974. Prior to that he earned a degree at the University of Utah. His community service has been with the Boy Scouts of America, Utah Bolivia Partners, the Community Service Council and the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center.
In the Church he has been a regional representative, stake president, mission president and bishop's counselor.
He was born in San Francisco, Calif., June 8, 1947, to Wayne L. and Virginia Parker Peterson, who now reside in Salt Lake City. He and his wife, Christine Ann Swensen Peterson, are the parents of three sons and five daughters.
Elder Samuelson, 53, is a physician and Salt Lake City native who has served as senior vice president of Intermountain Health Care for the past four years.
Earlier, he was vice president for health sciences at the University of Utah after serving as professor of medicine and dean of the School of Medicine.
In the Church he has been a regional representative, stake president, high councilor and branch president. He served a mission to Scotland.
He has also been director of the Utah Chapter of the American Red Cross, Catholic Healthcare West in San Francisco and a member of national medical and hospital organizations.
He was born Aug. 1, 1941, to Cecil Osborn Samuelson Sr. and Janet Brazier Mitchell Samuelson. He and his wife, Sharon Giauque Samuelson, are the parents of three sons and two daughters.
