Dieter Friedrich Uchtdorf

President Uchtdorf was born on November 6, 1940 in then Mährisch-Ostrau, Czechoslovakia, to Karl Albert and Hildegard Else Opelt Uchtdorf. He was raised in Zwickau, Germany, where his family joined the Church in 1947.


He married Harriet Reich on December 14, 1962 and they have two children and have six grandchildren.

He studied engineering and later continued his education in business administration in Cologne, Germany, and international management in Lausanne, Switzerland. President Uchtdorf joined the German Air Force in 1959 and received his pilot wings in Big Spring, Texas, and fighter pilot training in Phoenix, Ariziona.

In 1965, he became a pilot with Lufthansa Airlines. He worked as an airline captain from 1970 to 1996, flying multiple types of airplanes and completing his career flying the B747. He held several executive positions, including head of the airline pilot school, director of in-flight services, and head of cockpit crews. At the time of his call as a General Authority, he was the senior vice president of flight operations and chief pilot of Lufthansa Airlines. He was also chairman of the Flight Operations Committee of the International Air Transport Association. He has served as a board member for several government and business executive committees.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf was called as Second Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on February 3, 2008. He was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on October 2, 2004. He has served as a General Authority since April 1994, and served as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy from August 2002 until his call to the Twelve. Since his call as an apostle, President and Sister Uchtdorf now have their permanent home in the United States.

President and Sister Uchtdorf have visited many parts of the globe. When they have free time they like to go hiking, listen to classical music, and spend hours with their children and grandchildren.

 
Some of the books he wrote include:

The Remarkable Soul of a Woman
Sister Eternal


A book about him is German Religious Leaders: Karl G. Maeser, Johannes Kelpius, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Sadananda Swami, Rudolf K. Poecker, F. Enzio Busche and another is
People From Ostrava-City District: People From Ostrava, Ivan Lendl, Filip Kuba, Libor Sionko, Marek Malík, Dieter F. Uchtdorf