Fred Burton Howard has been a general authority

General authority

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a general authority is a member of certain leadership organizations who are given administrative and ecclesiastical authority over the church...

 of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since September 1978. He was a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy from that time until he was given emeritus

Emeritus

Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...

 status in October 2005.

F. Burton Howard was born in Logan

Logan, Utah

-Layout of the City:Logan's city grid originates from its Main and Center Street block, with Main Street running north and south, and Center east and west. Each block north, east, south, or west of the origin accumulates in additions of 100 , though some streets have non-numeric names...

, Cache County, Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

. He served a mission in Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

 for the LDS Church. He graduated with a law degree from the University of Utah

University of Utah

The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...

 in 1959. He was admitted to the Utah State bar.

In 1962, Howard began to work for the church legal department. He worked closely with Marion G. Romney

Marion G. Romney

Marion George Romney was an apostle and a member of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints .-Early life:...

 while in this position. He later wrote a biography of Romney.

Among his many assignments as a member of the first quorum of the seventy he served as president of the North America Southwest Area

Area (LDS Church)

An area is an administrative unit of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which typically is composed of multiple stakes and missions...

 and the North America Northeast Area.

Howard served as president

Temple President

Temple president is a priesthood leadership position in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A temple president's primary responsibility is to supervise the affairs of an LDS temple in both an administrative and spiritual capacity....

 of the Madrid Spain Temple

Madrid Spain Temple

The Madrid Spain Temple is the 56th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints .The Madrid Spain Temple, built in Moratalaz, a district of Madrid, was announced in 1996...

from 2005 to 2008.