Bednar has served as a bishop (Fayetteville Ward, 1987), a stake president twice (Fort Smith Arkansas Stake, 1987—1991 and Rogers Arkansas Stake, 1991-1995), a regional representative of the Twelve (1994—1995), and an area seventy. During his time as a bishop, stake president, and regional representative, Bednar was an associate dean at the University of Arkansas. He was an area seventy from 1997 to 2004 while he was president of Ricks College which had its name changed to Brigham Young University—Idaho during his tenure.

Bednar was born on 15 June 1952, 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 then received a Doctorate in organizational behavior from Purdue University in 1980.

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 then 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 has twice been the recipient of the Outstanding Teacher Award in the College of Business Administration.

Bednar then served as the president of Ricks College/Brigham Young University—Idaho from 1997 to 2004 in Rexburg, Idaho. 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, Brigham Young University-Idaho.

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

In the fall of 2009 the BYU-Idaho choirs and orchestras performed an oratorio with words by Bednar and music by Robert Cundick.