Church president Gordon B. Hinckley opened the 177th semiannual LDS conference on Saturday by appointing Elder Henry B. Eyring as the second counselor in the organization's First Presidency.

Eyring replaces James E. Faust, who died Aug. 10 from causes incident to age. Eyring comes to his new post after serving 12 years in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the second-tier of leadership for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

President of the church-owned Rick's College in Rexburg, Idaho, from 1972 to 1977, Eyring also taught in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University from 1962 to 1971. He holds a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Utah and both a master's degree and doctorate in businesses administration from Harvard University.

A native of Princeton, N.J., Eyring has held a variety of leadership roles for the church, including as a congregation bishop, regional church representative and on the general Sunday school board.

Eyring's appointment to the First Presidency alongside Hinckley and first counselor Thomas S. Monson left a vacancy on the Quorum.

Hinckley named Quentin L. Cook, a member of the First Presidency of the Seventy to the post. As a member of the Seventy, Cook was supervising the church's worldwide missionary program.

Faust's passing and his service to the church were recognized by Hinckley and others Saturday.

"He was an extremely able man, a man of great faith and capacity who contributed much to our meetings," said Hinckley, who counted Faust among his closest and oldest friends. "We greatly miss him."

The proceedings are simultaneously transmitted to church centers and homes around the world via satellite, Internet and radio broadcasts in more than 80 languages.