Berkley Center

Ken Bedell most recently served the Obama administration as a senior advisor in the U.S. Department of Education's Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships Center, and subsequently was a research fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. Ordained in the United Methodist Church, Bedell led congregations for 16 years in New York, Maryland, and Ohio. He has taught at the junior high to graduate school level, and as executive secretary of the International Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges and Universities Bedell visited schools in Argentina, Brazil, Korea, Mozambique, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. He served on the executive committee of the Religious Research Association and was founding president of the Church Computer Users Network in the mid-1980s. Bedell is the author of five books and numerous publications, including Realizing the Civil Rights Dream: Diagnosing and Treating American Racism (2017) and Different Ships—Same Boat (2000). For five years he edited the annual Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches for the National Council of Churches. He holds a Ph.D. from Temple University.