start_date birth_place president position_or_quorum end_date name birth_date image article_title birth_name end_reason
1989 04 01 1993 08 15 1999 10 02 banida , idaho , united states ezra taft benson ezra taft benson gordon b. hinckley first emeritus general authority quorum of the seventy presidency of the seventy 1999 10 02 1999 08 15 joe j. christensen 21 july 1929 joe j. christensen.jpg joe j. christensen
 joe junior christensen granted general authority emeritus status honorably released
joe j. christensen

joe junior christensen -lrb- born july 21 , 1929 -rrb- was the president of ricks college from 1985 to 1989 and has been a general authority in the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints -lrb- lds church -rrb- since 1989 .
he was also president of the san diego california temple from 1999 to 2002 .
christensen served as an officer in the united states air force during the korean war , from 1953 to 1955 .
he received a bachelor 's degree from brigham young university and a ph.d. from washington state university .
for a few months in 1970 christensen served as president of the lds church 's mission headquartered in mexico city .
he was , however , soon afterward appointed to work under neal a. maxwell in running the church 's seminaries and institutes and was replaced as mission president .
christensen was associate commissioner of the church educational system from 1970 to 1985 , interrupted by a four-year term as president of the lds church 's missionary training center in provo , utah .
in 1985 , christensen became president of ricks college in rexburg , idaho .
in 1989 , christensen was called as a general authority in lds church , where among other assignments , he served in the presidency of the seventy .
he was given general authority emeritus status in 1999 .
