Artur A. Stele was elected as a general vice president for the Seventh-day Adventist world church at the 2010 General Conference Session in Atlanta, Georgia. He was born on January 30, 1961 in Kaskelen, a city in southern Kazakhstan.
He graduated from Almaty Medical College in Kazakhstan in 1979 with a degree in pharmacy and served in the Soviet military from 1979 to 1981. In 1986, Stele received a bachelor’s degree in theology from Fridensau University in Germany. That same year he married Galina, the first woman to graduate from Andrews University with a doctoral degree in ministry. They have a son named Alexander, and a grandson Leonard.
Stele earned his master’s degree and doctorate in theology from Andrews University in 1993 and 1996. His denominational service includes time spent as pastor, academic dean and president for Zaokski Theological Seminary, as well as president of the Euro-Asia Division. Stele is fluent in Russian, German and English.