The sequences \(\{\delta _n^{(k)}\}_{n\in \mathbb {N}}, k=0,1,\ldots n,\) associated to a Bochner differential operator are introduced as an effective tool to study this kind of operators. Some properties of this sequence are proven and used to deduce that a particular operator leads to solutions of a bispectral problem. In addition, the inverse problem is studied; that is, given a sequence \(\{\lambda _n\}_{n\in \mathbb {N}}\) of complex numbers and a sequence \(\{P_n\}_{n\in \mathbb {N}}\) of polynomials with complex coefficients, \(\deg {P_n}=n\) , we find a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a Bochner differential operator that has those sequences as eigenvalues and eigenpolynomials, respectively. The mentioned condition also depends on \(\{\delta _n^{(k)}\}_{n\in \mathbb {N}}, k=0,1,\ldots n\) .