Elder Kent F. Richards was sustained as a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 4, 2009. He was released and given emeritus status October 1, 2016. Elder Richards served as a counselor in the Chile Area Presidency from 2011 to 2012 and also served as a counselor in the Europe Area Presidency.
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
He served as an Assistant Executive Director in the Temple Department from 2013 to 2014, and on August 1, 2014, he became the Executive Director of the Temple Department. As Executive Director, he worked closely with the First Presidency in the oversight and administration of the Church’s temples throughout the world.
Elder Richards graduated with a bachelor of science degree from the University of Utah in 1969. In 1972 he received his medical degree, also from the University of Utah. He worked as a surgeon for IHC Bryner Clinic from 1977 to 2009 and served as senior vice president for four years at Intermountain Health Care. Elder Richards has also served as a clinical professor of surgery at the University of Utah, chairman of the department of surgery at LDS Hospital, and member of the board and executive committee on the IHC board of trustees.
Elder Richards has served in a number of Church callings, including full-time missionary in the Southeast Mexican Mission, elders quorum president, bishop, Scoutmaster, high councilor, stake president, and president of the Texas San Antonio Mission (1998–2001).
Kent Farnsworth Richards was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on February 25, 1946. He married Marsha Gurr in August 1968. They are the parents of eight children.