David A. Bednar

David A. Bednar
Bednar speaking at university commencement
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
October 2, 2004 (2004-10-02)
Called by	Gordon B. Hinckley
LDS Church Apostle
October 7, 2004 (2004-10-07)
Called by	Gordon B. Hinckley
Reason	Deaths of David B. Haight and Neal A. Maxwell
14th President of Brigham Young University–Idaho
In office
July 1, 1997 – December 1, 2004
Successor	Kim B. Clark
Personal details
Born	David Allan Bednar (1952-06-15) June 15, 1952 Oakland, California
Alma mater	Brigham Young University (B.A., M.A.) Purdue University (Ph.D.)
Spouse(s)	Susan Kae Robinson (1975-present)
Children	3

David Allan Bednar (born June 15, 1952) is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). An educator by profession, Bednar was also president of Brigham Young University–Idaho from 1997 to 2004.

Bednar was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve on October 2, 2004, the youngest man named to that body since Dallin H. Oaks in 1984. He was ordained an apostle on October 7, 2004, by church president Gordon B. Hinckley. Bednar and Dieter F. Uchtdorf were called to fill the vacancies created by the July 2004 deaths of quorum members David B. Haight and Neal A. Maxwell. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Bednar is accepted by the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator. He is currently the ninth most senior apostle in the ranks of the church.

Early life

Bednar was born in Oakland, California. His mother came from a long line of Latter-day Saints, but Bednar's father did not join the church until Bednar was in his late twenties. He served as a full-time missionary in Southern Germany and then attended Brigham Young University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication in 1976 and a Master of Arts degree in organizational communication in 1977. He received a doctorate degree in organizational behavior from Purdue University in 1980.

Career and church service

From 1980 to 1984, Bednar was the assistant professor of management in the Sam M. Walton College of Business (then College of Business Administration) at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He became assistant professor of management at Texas Tech University from 1984 to 1986. He moved back to the University of Arkansas as the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the Sam M. Walton College of Business from 1987 to 1992 and was then the director of the Management Decision-Making Lab from 1992 to 1997. In 1994, he was recognized as the outstanding teacher at the University of Arkansas and received the Burlington Northern Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching. He was twice the recipient of the Outstanding Teacher Award in the College of Business Administration.

Bednar served as the president of Ricks College/Brigham Young University–Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho, from July 1, 1997, to December 1, 2004. There, he oversaw and managed the transition of the school from, what was at the time, the largest private junior college in the United States, Ricks College, to a four-year university, BYU–Idaho.

Bednar has served in the LDS Church as a bishop (Fayetteville Ward, 1987), twice as stake president (Fort Smith Arkansas Stake, 1987–91 and Rogers Arkansas Stake, 1991–95), regional representative (1994–95), and area seventy (1997–2004).

In late 2009, the BYU–Idaho choirs and orchestras performed an oratorio with words by Bednar and music by Robert Cundick.

Personal life

Bednar married Susan Kae Robinson in the Salt Lake Temple on March 20, 1975. They are the parents of three sons.

Bednar at the April 2008 BYU Commencement with Cecil O. Samuelson, Elaine S. Dalton, and W. Rolfe Kerr

Bednar at the April 2008 BYU graduation ceremony

Works

Books

Academic articles

Religious articles

Awards

• Burlington Northern Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching (1994)

See also

• Council on the Disposition of the Tithes

External links

• "General Authorities: Elder David A. Bednar", lds.org
• Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages: David A. Bednar
• Bednar on Special Witnesses of Christ

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titles
Preceded by Dieter F. Uchtdorf	Quorum of the Twelve Apostles October 2, 2004 –	Succeeded by Quentin L. Cook
Academic offices
Preceded by Steven D. Bennion as President of Ricks College	President of Brigham Young University–Idaho August 10, 2001 – December 1, 2004	Succeeded by Robert M. Wilkes as interim President (2004–05) Kim B. Clark as President of Brigham Young University–Idaho (2005–current)
	President of Ricks College July 1, 1997 – August 10, 2001