During the Saturday afternoon session of general conference, President Dallin H. Oaks announced the calls of 10 General Authority Seventies and 55 Area Seventies during the Saturday afternoon session of the April 2019 general conference.
Among them was Elder Peter Matthew Johnson, who Church Public Affairs confirmed is the first African American general authority in Church history. Elder Joseph W. Sitati, who was sustained as a General Authority Seventy in April 4, 2009, was the first black African called as a general authority. The Church continues to call and sustain leaders from around the world.
We have confirmed with Church Public Affairs that we have the first African-American general authority in the history of @LDSchurch. Elder Peter Johnson was just sustained as a General Authority Seventy. #generalconference @DeseretNews — Tad Walch (@Tad_Walch) April 6, 2019
TheChurch's Newsroom has posted a biography of Elder Johnson, detailing his faith, family, and service in the Church:
Elder Johnson received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Southern Utah University. He received a PhD in accounting from Arizona State University. He began his career in 1992 as staff accountant for Grant Thornton CPA. He has worked as an associate professor at Brigham Young University–Hawaii, assistant professor of accountancy at Brigham Young University, and associate professor of accountancy at the University of Alabama. Elder Johnson has served in a number of Church callings, including full-time missionary in the Alabama Birmingham Mission, counselor in a bishopric, ward Young Men president, stake financial clerk, ward mission leader, and stake president. Peter Matthew Johnson was born in New York City, New York, on November 29, 1966. He married Stephanie Lyn Chadwick in 1990. They are the parents of four children.