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 presidentGordon 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.[4] 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.[5]
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.[11]
Bednar served as the president of Ricks College/BYU–Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho, from July 1, 1997, to December 1, 2004.[3] 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.[8]
Bednar attended the 2019 dedication of the Rome Italy Temple with all 15 of the LDS Church apostles.[13] 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.[13]
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.[16][17][18]
Reeves, Carol A; Bednar, David A (1996), "Keys to Market Success -- A Response and Another View", Journal of Retail Banking, 18 (4), Arlington, VA: Consumer Bankers Association in cooperation with the McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia: 33, OCLC91490898
Bednar, David A; Reeves, Carol A; Lawrence, R Cayce (1995), "The Role of Technology in Banking -- Listen to the Customer", Journal of Retail Banking, 17 (3), Arlington, VA: Consumer Bankers Association in cooperation with the McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia: 35, OCLC91801203
Reeves, Carol A; Bednar, David A (1995), "Quality as Symphony", The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 36 (3), Ithaca, NY: School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University: 72–79, doi:10.1177/001088049503600323, OCLC87629925, S2CID154158411
White, Donald D.; Bednar, David A. (Winter 1984), "Locating problems with quality circles", National Productivity Review, 4 (1): 45–52, doi:10.1002/npr.4040040106, OCLC4663049108
Bednar, David A (Fall 1982), "Relationships between Communicator Style and Managerial Performance in Complex Organizations: A Field Study", Journal of Business Communication, 19 (4): 51–76, doi:10.1177/002194368201900404, OCLC424921115, S2CID146548462