David A. Bednar

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). A former educator, Bednar was president of Brigham Young University–Idaho (BYU–Idaho) from 1997 to 2004.

Bednar was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve on October 2, 2004. At 52 years old, he is 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 recognized by the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator. He is currently the sixth most senior apostle in the church.

Life and career
Bednar was born in Oakland, California to Lavina Whitney Bednar and Anthony George Bednar. His mother came from a long line of Latter-day Saints, but his 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.

From 1980 to 1984, Bednar was an assistant professor of management at the University of Arkansas College of Business Administration (now Sam M. Walton College of Business). He was an assistant professor of management at Texas Tech University from 1984 to 1986. He returned to the University of Arkansas in 1987, serving as the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the Sam M. Walton College of Business until 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/BYU–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.

LDS Church service
Bednar has served in the LDS Church as a bishop (Fayetteville Ward, 1987), twice as stake president (Fort Smith Arkansas Stake, 1987–1991 and Rogers Arkansas Stake, 1991–1995), regional representative (1994–95), and area seventy (1997–2004).

In 2016, Bednar dedicated the Star Valley Wyoming Temple, the LDS Church's 154th temple. Bednar attended the 2019 dedication of the Rome Italy Temple with all 15 of the LDS Church apostles. This is believed to be the first time the entire First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were in the same location outside the United States.

Bednar addressed the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on May 26, 2022.

Controversy
In 2016, Bednar attracted media attention when he claimed the church doesn't discriminate against gay and lesbian people because "there are no homosexual members of the church." He stated that being gay or lesbian is not the primary identity of individuals, but rather that each individual is first a child of God.

Personal life
Bednar married Susan Kae Robinson in the Salt Lake Temple on March 20, 1975. The Bednars have three sons.

Works

 * Books
 * Academic articles
 * Academic articles
 * Academic articles
 * Academic articles
 * Academic articles
 * Academic articles
 * Academic articles



Awards

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