Ronald K. Bednar was named the recipient of the 2017 American Planning Association Pennsylvania Planning Leadership Award for Distinguished Service during the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association’s annual luncheon in State College.

The award is given to a Pennsylvania Chapter member who contributed to planning in Pennsylvania and the development and mission of the chapter in a substantial manner over a sustained period. Only 11 awards have been given out in the past 24 years.

Bednar, a Lansford native, began his professional career as a planner for Carbon County and the Borough of Lehighton, in the 1970s. He moved to state-level planning in the early 1980s, in Harrisburg and later, Philadelphia, from 1983-2013.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Bednar served in Pennsylvania Planning Association leadership positions as southeast section chair, vice president and president. As president, Bednar modernized the association and was instrumental in Philadelphia’s selection as host city for the 2007 APA national conference, for which he served as co-chair.

He has served as an adjunct professor at Widener University and Philadelphia University, and as a Temple University guest lecturer.

A member of the Pennsylvania Planning Association since 1974, he is an active member of the International Society of City and Regional Planners.

Under a Cornell University grant, he presented a paper at the organization’s congress in Prague, Czech Republic, and has attended congresses in Kenya, Russia, Belgium, The Netherlands, China and the United States.

Bednar served as rapporteur for the 47th World Congress in Wuhan, China. He currently serves as a member to the ISOCARP National Delegation for the United States.

In 2014, he was appointed to the executive board of the United Nations Association of Greater Philadelphia. He attended the U.N. Habitat 7th World Urban Forum in Medellín, Colombia, and was designated as the official board representative to the 2016 U.N. Habitat III Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, in Quito, Ecuador.

Bednar currently works for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.

A son of the late Rudy and Rita Bednar of Lansford, Bednar is a graduate of Marian Catholic High School, Iowa State University, and the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a master’s degree in city planning. He is married to Carla Teets-Bednar, formerly of Lehighton.