Michael T. Benson

Michael Taft Benson (born February 28, 1965) is a college administrator and the president of Coastal Carolina University.[1] He previously served as president of Eastern Kentucky University, Southern Utah University, Snow College, and as special assistant to the president at University of Utah. He was appointed Visiting Professor within the Department of the History of Science and Technology at Johns Hopkins University in January 2020.

Michael T. Benson
3rd President of
Coastal Carolina University
President
Assumed office
January 1, 2021
Preceded byDavid A. DeCenzo
President of
Eastern Kentucky University
In office
2013–2020
Preceded byCharles Douglas Whitlock
Succeeded byDavid McFaddin
President of
Southern Utah University
In office
2006–2013
Preceded bySteven D. Bennion
Succeeded byScott L. Wyatt
President of
Snow College
In office
2001–2006
Preceded byGerald J. Day
Succeeded byScott L. Wyatt
Personal details
Born (1965-02-28) February 28, 1965
Salt Lake City, Utah
Spouse(s)Debi (Woods) Benson
ChildrenEmma, Samuel, Truman, Tatum, Talmage
ResidenceMyrtle Beach, South Carolina
Alma materBrigham Young University (B.A.)
University of Oxford (St Antony's College) (D.Phil.)
University of Notre Dame (M.A.)
ProfessionHigher Education Administration
Academic background
ThesisSympathy or Strategy? Harry S. Truman’s Decision to Recognize the State of Israel, May 1948. (1995)
Doctoral advisorDr. Noah Lucas
Academic work
DisciplineHistory
Institutions

Biography

Benson earned his bachelor's degree Cum Laude from Brigham Young University, and then went on to earn a doctorate in Modern History from St Antony's College, Oxford. His dissertation committee included Daniel Walker Howe, Robert Dallek and John Lewis Gaddis. While at Oxford, Benson served as an officer in the Oxford University L'Chaim Society.[2]

Benson also earned a master's degree Cum Laude in Non-Profit Administration from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. A firm believer in life-long education, Benson is currently pursuing an online program to earn a master's degree in liberal arts from Johns Hopkins University and is on schedule to graduate in 2021. In recent years he has received national attention for his religious ecumenicism[3] and his humorous use of social media to reach students.[4][5][6] Benson is an accomplished athlete. He played JV basketball at Brigham Young University and was a member of the Oxford University Men's Basketball Team that won the 1993-94 British University Sports Federation (BUSF) National Championship and placed second at the British University Sports Association (BUSA) National Tournament. He is also a golfer and marathon runner.[7]

He is a son of Mark A. Benson. He worked for several years as an employee of the BYU Division of Continuing Education and was the first director of the BYU-Ogden Center.

University presidencies

Snow College

In 2001, Benson was appointed as the 14th president of Snow College. Age 36 at the time, he was the youngest college or university president in the history of the Utah System of Higher Education. During his tenure, Benson raised the private funds to construct the Eccles Center for the Performing Arts,[8] made Snow an All-Steinway school,[9] and brought Elie Wiesel to campus for a lecture and to receive an honorary degree.[10]

Southern Utah University

Benson was appointed the president of Southern Utah University on November 10, 2006, by the Utah State Board of Regents.[11] Two weeks into his presidency, Benson secured the largest donation in the school's history, which was used to expand SUU's Science Complex.[12] He was also instrumental in gaining admission for SUU into the Big Sky Conference [13] and landed the largest gift in the university's history from the Sorenson Legacy Foundation to help construct the Beverly Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts. [14] In March 2014, Benson returned to Cedar City to help celebrate the conclusion of "The Future is Rising" campaign which brought in a record $105 million in seven years for Southern Utah University.

Eastern Kentucky University

On April 5, 2013, it was announced that Benson was unanimously selected to become the 12th president of Eastern Kentucky University as the University's Board of Regents was seeking a "bold, visionary leader." He began August 1, 2013.

In 2015, Benson worked with retired EKU Archivist Charles Hay and senior Damir Siahkoohi and proposed to the EKU Board of Regents that Dr. Mary Roark, Eastern's “acting” president in 1909–10, be named officially as Eastern's second president. The Board took this action at its February 2, 2015, meeting. Dr. Mary Roark assumed the presidency when her husband Ruric Nevel Roark died suddenly after a short illness, and was the first female to serve as president of any public college or university in the state of Kentucky. Benson thus became Eastern's 13th president.[15]

During his tenure, EKU saw record enrollments, recorded dramatic improvements in retention and graduation rates, launched its most ambitious fund raising campaign ever, and completed nearly $300 million in capital improvements. The university also graduated more students in an academic year (2018–19) than ever before in its history.

On December 11, 2019 President Benson announced his resignation from Eastern Kentucky University effective January 6, 2020. He was subsequently named President Emeritus of EKU.[16]

Coastal Carolina University

In December 2018, Coastal Carolina President David DeCenzo announced that he would retire following the conclusion of the 2019-2020 Academic Year. A search committee was formed to conduct a national search for the university's ninth leader and third president. In early 2020, President DeCenzo announced he would stay past Spring of 2020 to help plan the University's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2020, Coastal Carolina University announced the appointment of Michael T. Benson as its next president. Benson began his tenure on January 2, 2021. DeCenzo will stay on-staff for Benson until the conclusion of the Spring 2021 semester. [1]

Other appointments

Benson served as Chair of the NCAA Honors Committee and Chair of the Presidents' Council for the Ohio Valley Conference and on the NCAA Division I Presidential Forum.[17][18] He is also the past chair of the Higher Education Consortium for Bluegrass Tomorrow and a member of the Steering Committee of Kentucky Rising. In February 2020, Benson was awarded the Vision Award for Education by Bluegrass Tomorrow in recognition of his service to EKU and the Commonwealth. [19]

Benson served on the Council of Presidents for the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) and as a member on the Task Force for University Partnerships for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). Benson also served as the convener for all presidents of public universities in Kentucky for two years.

In 2009, Governor Jon M. Huntsman named Benson to a four-year term as member of the seven-person Utah Appellate Courts Nominating Commission. Benson served as Chair of the Presidents’ Council for the Summit League, SUU's Division I athletic conference. Benson also served on the Advisory Board of the Cedar City Airport. Benson has completed a two-year term as the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Utah State Campus Compact. He is a past member of the Zions Bank Central Utah Board of Advisors, and the Wells Fargo Southwest Utah Board of Advisors. He has been employed in many other capacities, including: Associate Director of Major Gifts (University of Utah), Consulting Historian (Harry S. Truman Library), Academic Advisor and Essayist (Skirball Cultural Center), Visiting Lecturer (Brigham Young University, University of Utah), and Research Assistant (U.S. Senate Labor Committee).[20]

Publications

Benson is the author of Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel[21] and, with co-author Hal Boyd, published College for the Commonwealth: A Case for Higher Education in American Democracy[22] with the University Press of Kentucky (2018). The volume expands the arguments of Benson and Boyd's article, "The Public University: The Democratic Purpose of Higher Education."[23] Their work was nominated for the University of Louisville 2020 Grawemeyer Award in Education. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and former Rhodes Professor of American history at the University of Oxford, Daniel Walker Howe, wrote this about College for the Commonwealth: "Benson and Boyd present a convincing case for why higher education needs and deserves public support. From practical examples they demonstrate how investment in higher education enables a society to rise to the opportunities presented by the future."

Benson's third book was just completed and is under contract with Johns Hopkins University Press with an anticipated release date of Fall 2021. Titled Gilman at Hopkins: The Birth of the Modern American Research University, this work aims to recount the life of Johns Hopkins University's first president, Daniel Coit Gilman, and the establishment of America's first research university in Baltimore in 1876.[24]

Personal life

Benson and his first wife, Celia Barnes, divorced in 2004. They are the parents of two children, Emma and Samuel.[7]

Benson and his wife, Debi, are the parents of three children: Truman, Tatum and Talmage.[25]

Benson is a grandson of former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and LDS Church President Ezra Taft Benson, and served an LDS mission in Rome, Italy. His older brother Steve Benson is a Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist.[7]

References
  1. Strong, Hannah; Shain, Andy; Masuda, Nick (1 October 2020). "Coastal Carolina picks former Eastern Kentucky president as new leader". Post and Courier. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  2. Grose, Thomas K. (2 December 1999). "Rabbi in spotlight over 'Kosher Sex'". USA Today. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  3. Ravitz, Jessica (23 June 2012). "A rabbi, a Mormon and a black Christian mayor walk into a room..." CNN. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  4. "University president answers challenge to shovel student's driveway". TODAY.com. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  5. "This Guy Dared His University President To Shovel His Driveway And He Actually Showed Up". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  6. Molloy, Mark (February 25, 2015). "University president responds brilliantly to snowed in student's Twitter challenge". Retrieved November 13, 2019 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  7. Robinson, Doug (25 March 2007). "Thinking big: Michael Benson delivers the goods at Snow, SUU". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  8. "FUNDRAISING EFFORTS AT SNOW CONTINUE UPWARD TREND" (PDF). Snow College. 13 March 2006. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  9. "List of all-Steinway schools". steinway.com. Steinway & Sons. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  10. Dean, Suzanne (24 May 2006). "Wiesel stresses forgiveness". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  11. Perkins, Nancy. "Regents name Benson to head SUU". Deseret News. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  12. "President Benson Secures Major Gift For New Science Center". Southern Utah University. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  13. "Thunderbirds Accept Invitation to join Big Sky Conference". Southern Utah University. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  14. Fulton, Ben. "Sorenson gives $6M to SUU's new center for the arts". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  15. "Regents Designate Mary Roark as Eastern's 2nd President". www.eku.edu. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  16. "EKU President Benson Resigns". www.richmondregister.com. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  17. "EKU president elected chair of NCAA Honors Committee". Lane Report | Kentucky Business & Economic News. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
  18. "President Benson Named to NCAA Honors Committee". www.eku.edu. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  19. "Benson Recipient of Vision Award for Excellence in Education". Eastern Kentucky University. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  20. "SUU - About SUU: The Office of the President - Michael T. Benson Bio". Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  21. https://www.amazon.com/Harry-S-Truman-Founding-Israel/dp/0275958078
  22. https://www.amazon.com/College-Commonwealth-Education-American-Democracy-ebook/dp/B07CVPRW4W
  23. "The Public University: Recalling Higher Education's Democratic Purpose". NEA. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
  24. "EKU President Benson Authoring New Book". Eastern Kentucky University. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  25. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-01-29. Retrieved 2008-02-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Michael T. Benson

Media related to Michael T. Benson at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by
Steven D. Bennion		 President of Southern Utah University
2006 – 2013		 Succeeded by
Scott L. Wyatt
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