Ricks College, academic home for many of Utah's high school graduates, continues its legacy of strong leadership with the appointment of David A. Bednar as president. The change was announced May 27 by the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which operates the school.
Bednar will replace outgoing head Steven D. Bennion, recently tabbed as president of Southern Utah University in Cedar City.The new 44-year-old president, a native of San Leandro, Calif., will assume his duties July 1. He brings to the job an extraordinary business, communication and teaching background, a mix that will serve him well as he takes the helm of Ricks.
Bednar was a business management professor at Texas Tech and currently teaches courses in organizational behavior, team management and managerial communication at the University of Arkansas. He was associate dean for graduate studies in that university's College of Business Administration from 1987-92. He twice received the Outstanding Teacher Award in the College of Business Administration and in 1994 was named the outstanding faculty member at the school.
The dean of Arkansas' College of Business Administration noted that Bednar has an outstanding reputation on that campus as a teacher who cares deeply for students, has a deep love of learning, is highly respected by his colleagues and exemplifies values that "will serve Ricks College extremely well. He will be sorely missed by all of us at the University of Arkansas."
And Arkansas' loss is a gain for Ricks College and the many Utah students who attend it.