Elder Clark G. Gilbert is the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Elder Gilbert’s call by Church President Dallin H. Oaks was announced Thursday, Feb. 12 — the day the new Apostle was ordained by President Oaks and the other members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles — on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. He was called by President Oaks on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles returns to 12 members, following the Dec. 27, 2025, death of President Jeffrey R. Holland, president of that quorum.
Elder Gilbert, 55, was born in Oakland, California, and spent most of his childhood in Phoenix, Arizona. He has served as a General Authority Seventy since April 2021 and as the commissioner of the Church Educational System since August of that year.
He and his wife, Sister Christine Gilbert, were married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1994. They are the parents of eight children.
Second new Apostle in three months
Elder Gilbert is the second individual to be called to the apostleship by President Oaks since the latter was set apart as the Prophet and 18th President of the Church on Oct. 14, 2025, filling Quorum of the Twelve Apostle vacancies created by the Sept. 27, 2025, death of Church President Russell M. Nelson and that of President Holland.
Also on Oct. 14, President Oaks announced the call of President Henry B. Eyring and President D. Todd Christofferson as his First Presidency counselors, with the latter’s move from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles necessitating the call of a new quorum member.
Filling that first vacancy was Elder Gérald Caussé, then the Church’s presiding bishop, who was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on Nov. 6, 2025.
Education and career
Elder Gilbert received a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in international relations in 1994, followed by a master’s degree at Stanford in Eastern Asian studies in 1995 and a doctorate at Harvard in business administration in 2001. He later joined Harvard’s faculty.
Elder Kim B. Clark, now an emeritus General Authority Seventy, was Elder Gilbert’s colleague and mentor at Harvard and became president of BYU–Idaho. He invited the Gilberts to come to the Rexburg, Idaho, university with the challenge to “help us rethink Church education on a global scale.”
After his initial employment at BYU–Idaho, he filled assignments as CEO of Deseret Digital Media (2009), president of Deseret News (2010), president of BYU–Idaho (2015) and the inaugural president of the global online offering known as BYU–Pathway Worldwide (2017) before his call to full-time Church service.
BYU–Idaho and Church education system
In an interview with the Church News in 2021, Elder Gilbert spoke of some of the lessons he learned while president of BYU–Idaho, including how to be an innovator.
“Ironically, people think, ‘Well I need more money to fund innovation.’ What I learned at BYU–Idaho is frugality can often lead to innovation,“ he said. ”And I learned more about innovating with less from my time serving at BYU–Idaho than in all of my years studying innovation at the Harvard Business School.”
Soon after he was called as the Church commissioner of education, Elder Gilbert told the Church News of a scripture that in many ways has defined his time, attention and efforts for many years.
In his roles as president of BYU–Idaho, then as president of BYU–Pathway Worldwide and then as a General Authority Seventy, Elder Gilbert has thought a lot about how to overcome the challenge posed in 3 Nephi 6:12, where the Nephites begin to have distinctions based upon their riches and “their chances for learning.”
The verse states that “some were ignorant because of their poverty, and others did receive great learning because of their riches.”
Although each school within the CES portfolio has a distinctive contribution to make to the whole Church Educational System, Elder Gilbert said, they also all have a “unifying purpose and mission to develop disciples of Jesus Christ who can be leaders in the Church, in their homes and in their workplaces.”
The work that each institution is doing to increase Latter-day Saints’ chances for learning — both secularly and spiritually — is an important part of the work of the Lord.
In a Church News podcast interview, Elder Gilbert said: “I fundamentally believe [the Lord is] preparing the world for the return of the Savior. And part of that is the work He’s doing to gather His Church by building capacity and leadership through education all across the world.”
An apostolic message to young adults
In his first message as an Apostle, posted to his new official social media accounts, Elder Gilbert said, “To be a special witness of the name of Jesus Christ as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is a special and sacred opportunity.
“I express my gratitude to our Heavenly Father and to His Beloved Son, our Savior. In these uncertain and perilous times, I invite you to seek Them and receive the peace only They can give.
In a video message with the post, Elder Gilbert spoke to young adults in the Church, saying, “We love you.”
Elder Gilbert said there is a hastening happening across the Church and young adults can feel it — they are going to Church universities, going on missions and gathering in institutes all across the Church in unprecedented numbers.
“And the reason you are doing that is because you know that if you will look for Him in the gospel of Jesus Christ, He will bring comfort and strength and joy into your lives,” he said in the video.
Confidence in the rising generation
In a Church News podcast interview in October 2024, Elder Gilbert spoke about the Church Educational System and the rising generation.“I have so much confidence in this generation,” he said. “What they’re facing is hard, but the Lord is pouring out blessings, resources and His Spirit in unprecedented ways. And we see that happening, and it’s inspiring. … The Lord is doing something powerful. He’s hastening the work, and one of the ways He’s doing it is through the future of this Church, which are youth and are young adults, and it’s inspiring to see what’s happening in their lives.”
Wherever he goes “everything has to be focused on Jesus Christ,” Elder Gilbert said in a Church News podcast interview in February 2024. “And I just, more than ever in my life, I know He lives. I know He loves us. I know He changes us,” Elder Gilbert said. “I seek His repentance and forgiveness every day. I try to become more through the Atonement of the Savior. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
— Mary Richards, Aimee Cobabe and Rachel Sterzer Gibson contributed to this article.
