Elder Gerrit W. Gong, a member of the Presidency of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will address Brigham Young University–Hawaii’s 250 graduates and their families at this Spring’s commencement ceremony held on Thursday, June 9, 2016, at 9:30 AM in the Cannon Activities Center in Laie, Hawaii.
The university will award 224 bachelor’s degrees and 26 associate’s degrees. Graduates range from 19 to 46 years old. There are 169 single students and 81 married students in this Spring 2016 class.
Elder Gerrit Walter Gong was born in Redwood City, California. Before he was named a member of the Presidency of the Seventy on October 6, 2015, Elder Gong was a member of the Asia Area Presidency, headquartered in Hong Kong, and concluded that service as the Area President.
Elder Gong received a bachelor of arts degree in Asian and university studies at Brigham Young University in 1977. In 1979 he received a master of philosophy and in 1981 a Ph.D. in international relations from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. In 1985 he served as special assistant to the undersecretary of state at the U.S. State Department and in 1987 as special assistant to the U.S. ambassador in Beijing, China. From 1989 he served in several positions at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. He was the assistant to the president for planning and assessment at Brigham Young University until April 2010.
Elder Gong has served in numerous Church callings, including full-time missionary in Taiwan, high councilor, high priests group leader, stake Sunday School president, seminary teacher, bishop, stake mission president, stake president, and Area Seventy.
He married Susan Lindsay in January 1980. They are the parents of four children.
Accompanying Elder Gong at BYU–Hawaii’s Spring commencement will be Mark B. Woodruff of the Church Educational System. Brother Woodruff serves as the assistant to the commissioner of the Church Educational System and as secretary to the Boards of Trustees. BYU–Hawaii President John S. Tanner, and Theresa Smith, a student who is graduating with a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry from Henderson, Colorado, will also speak at the commencement.
Graduates, parents, and guests can find more information about Spring commencement events here.
You can also watch commencement exercises via LIVE STREAM here.
