Elder Robert C. Gay was sustained as a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on March 31, 2012. Since becoming a General Authority, Elder Gay has served as Chairman of the Self-Reliance Services and Perpetual Education Fund Committee and as President of the Asia North Area. He currently serves as a member of the Missionary Executive Council, the Executive Committee of the Church Educational System, and as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, where he assists in the supervision of the North America Northeast, Asia, and Asia North Areas.

Prior to becoming a General Authority, Elder Gay earned a bachelor of arts degree in economics with an emphasis in statistics from the University of Utah and a PhD in business economics from Harvard University. He spent his professional career working in business, education, and humanitarian relief. In this capacity, he cofounded or established private equity companies, worked at several leading global institutions as a management consultant, and worked as a university instructor. He has also established several humanitarian organizations that have built schools; provided clean water, medical clinics, and microenterprises; and protected children at risk and trapped in modern slavery. His work in these areas is widely recognized and has impacted and lifted the lives of people across the world.

Elder Gay has served in numerous Church callings, including full-time missionary in Spain, high priests group leader, mission president in West Africa, and Area Seventy.

Robert Christopher Gay was born in Los Angeles, California, on September 1, 1951. He married Lynette Nielsen in April 1974. They are the parents of seven children.