John A. Widtsoe Building was the home of the College of Biology and Agriculture. A new building, the Life Sciences Building, took its place in 2014). Soon, however, he returned to Logan and succeeded Kerr as president of Utah State Agricultural College; he served in this position from 1907 to 1916. He also served as the president of the University of Utah from 1916 until his call as a member of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve in 1921. Widtsoe was the fifth Commissioner of Church Education from 1921 to 1924 and was the seventh commissioner from 1934 to 1936. During his time as an apostle, Widtsoe taught a religion class at the University of Southern California. Federal government work For two years in the 1920s, Widtsoe lived in Washington, D.C., where he supervised the reorganization of the Federal Bureau of Reclamation. Service in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Widtsoe was closely associated with the Improvement Era even before he became an apostle. He was associate editor of the magazine from 1935 until 1952. As editor of the Improvement Era, Widtsoe "directed its growth from a magazine primarily for the youth to the voice of the whole Church". One of Widtsoe's employees while at the magazine was Hugh Nibley, who Widtsoe convinced to become a professor at BYU. Widtsoe was also a member of the church's Genealogy Committee, where he pushed for creation and adoption of the Temple Index Bureau. Missions to Europe In 1923, Widtsoe accompanied fellow apostle, Reed Smoot, on a journey to Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries, during which they secured recognition and opened the way for missionaries of the church to return to these lands. From 1926 until 1932, Widtsoe served as president of the European Mission. While in this office, he convinced the First Presidency to call a separate president of the British Mission, so that the president of the European Mission could focus on supervising the missions in continental Europe. While president of the European Mission, Widtsoe dedicated Czechoslovakia for the preaching of the gospel, and worked closely with Arthur Gaeth in starting the mission there. Marriage and writings Widtsoe married Leah Dunford, a daughter of Susa Young Gates, who was a daughter of LDS Church president Brigham Young. Their first child, Ann Gaarden Widtsoe, was born in Germany. The couple had eight children, but only three lived to adulthood. Widtsoe