An Idaho educator and a former German airline pilot were named Saturday to leadership positions in the Mormon church.
David Bednar and Dieter Uchtdorf were chosen for the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the top leadership council after the three-member First Presidency.
Church President Gordon B. Hinckley made the announcement as he opened the church's semiannual General Conference.
Bednar, 52, is president of Brigham Young University-Idaho and previously worked at the University of Arkansas and Texas Tech.
Uchtdorf, 63, who was born in Germany, most recently served as president of the Quorum of the Seventy, the church leadership council ranking just below the Quorum of the Twelve.
Before joining the church full time in 1996, Uchtdorf was a pilot for the German airline Lufthansa and later served in management roles, including vice president of flight operations and chief pilot.
Bendar and Uchtdorf filled vacancies created by the deaths last summer of council members David Haight and Neal Maxwell.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has 5.4 million members in the United States, making it the nation's fifth-largest, according to the National Council of Churches.