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.

[4] As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Bednar is recognized by the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator.

[6][7] 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 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.

[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.