Michael T. Benson | |
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3rdPresident of Coastal Carolina University | |
Assumed office January 1, 2021 | |
Preceded by | David A. DeCenzo← |
13th President of Eastern Kentucky University | |
In office 2013–2020 | |
Preceded by | Charles Douglas Whitlock |
Succeeded by | David McFaddin |
15th President of Southern Utah University | |
In office 2006–2013 | |
Preceded by | Steven D. Bennion |
Succeeded by | Scott L. Wyatt |
14th President of Snow College | |
In office 2001–2006 | |
Preceded by | Gerald J. Day |
Succeeded by | Scott L. Wyatt |
Personal details | |
Born | Salt Lake City,Utah,U.S. | February 28,1965
Spouse | Debi Benson |
Children | 5 |
Residence(s) | Myrtle Beach,South Carolina,U.S. |
Education | Brigham Young University (BA) St Antony's College,Oxford (DPhil) University of Notre Dame (MNA) Johns Hopkins University (MLA) |
Academic background | |
Thesis | Sympathy or Strategy? Harry S. Truman’s Decision to Recognize the State of Israel,May 1948. (1995) |
Doctoral advisor | Dr. Noah Lucas |
Academic work | |
Discipline | History |
Institutions | |
Michael Taft Benson (born February 28, 1965) is an American academic administrator serving as the president and professor of history at Coastal Carolina University. [1] He previously served as president of Eastern Kentucky University, Southern Utah University, and 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.
Benson earned his bachelor's degree, cum laude, from Brigham Young University, where he was elected to Phi Kappa Phi. He then went on to earn a doctorate in modern history from St Antony's College, Oxford, where he was a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar. 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, led by founder Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. [2]
Benson also earned a master's degree cum laude in non-profit administration in 2011 from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame, and a master’s in liberal arts in 2021 from Johns Hopkins University where he was elected to the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs (AGLSP) National Honor Society. Two years after completing his degree from Notre Dame, the Mendoza College of Business recognized Benson with its Recent Alumni Service Award. [3] In recent years, he has received national attention for his religious ecumenicism [4] and his humorous use of social media to reach students. [5] [6] [7]
Benson 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, having won his age division in the 1983 St. George Marathon (personal best of 2:41) and placing among the top 20% of all runners in the 1984 Boston Marathon. He was inducted into the Southern Utah University Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa in 2012. [8]
In 2001, Benson was appointed as the 14th president of Snow College. At the age of 36, 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, [9] made Snow an All-Steinway school, [10] and brought Elie Wiesel to campus for a lecture and to receive an honorary degree. [11] Benson was inducted into the Horne School of Music Hall of Fame at Snow College in December 2022. [12]
Benson was appointed the president of Southern Utah University on November 10, 2006, by the Utah State Board of Regents. [13] Two weeks into his presidency, Benson secured the largest donation in the school's history, which was used to expand SUU's Science Complex. [14] He was also instrumental in gaining admission for SUU into the Big Sky Conference [15] 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. [16] 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.
On August 1, 2013, Benson became the 12th president of Eastern Kentucky University.
In 2015, Benson worked with retired EKU archivist Charles Hay and senior Damir Siahkoohi and proposed to EKU's 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. [17]
During his six-and-a-half-year tenure at EKU, Benson oversaw nearly $300 million in capital improvements to the campus that included the largest state appropriation in the University’s history ($66.5 million) for phase II of a Science complex. [18] He also launched the most aggressive fund raising campaign ever: Make No Little Plans. [19] Retention and graduation rates also increased as did annual fund raising totals. [20]
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 and spent 2020 researching and writing his latest book on Daniel Coit Gilman for Johns Hopkins University Press. [21] In May 2023, Benson was inducted into the EKU Society of Foundation Professors as an honorary member in recognition of his teaching and scholarship during his service as president. [22]
In October 2020, Coastal Carolina University announced the appointment of Benson as its third president and ninth leader. Benson began his tenure on January 1, 2021. [23] He replaced David A. DeCenzo, who retired after serving for nearly 14 years as the University's president. Benson's first 100 days in office were chronicled in a series of campus-produced videos by the CCU communications team. [24]
In August 2021, CCU welcomed its largest and best-prepared freshman class in history. [25] The university also landed at spot #5 in Best Value School for the Southern region in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings. [26] In September 2021, former head football coach and CEO of TD Ameritrade, Joe Moglia, made a substantial gift to Coastal Carolina University to complete funding for a new soccer facility as well as a multi-purpose building that will constructed in the south endzone of Brooks Stadium. [27] In May 2022, Coastal Carolina announced the largest gift in its history: $10 million from Conway Medical Center to name and endow a new College of Health and Human Performance. Funds from the gift will provide scholarships for students and also help construct an indoor practice facility on the south side of Brooks Stadium. [28] [29] In August 2022, the Coastal Carolina University Board of Trustees unanimously voted to extend Benson’s contract as president through 2028. [30]
An early priority of Benson’s administration was working with Horry County Schools, and Horry-Georgetown Technical College (HGTC) to secure the renewal of the Horry County Penny Sales tax. The measure was approved with over 68% voting in support of the tax which is now in place until 2039. [31] In recognition of his service to CCU, Horry County, and the partnership with HGTC, Benson was named Distinguished Patron of the College in May 2023. [32] In October 2023, Coastal Carolina University reached a record in total enrollment: 10,830 students with an all-time high retention rate of 75.7%. [33]
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. [34] [35] In October 2021, Benson was appointed to the NCAA Board of Governors Committee to Promote Cultural Diversity and Equity as the FBS presidential representative. [36] [37] He is also a former chair of the Higher Education Consortium for Bluegrass Tomorrow and a member of the Steering Committee of Kentucky Rising. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Northeastern Strategic Alliance (NESA) based in Florence, South Carolina; on the Advocacy Council of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce; on the Executive Committee of the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation; and on the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. [38] In May 2021, Benson was elected to the Board of Trustees for the Omicron Delta Kappa Society (ODK) and Educational Foundation, Inc., and is currently serving as chair-elect of the board. [39]
Benson is a member of the Council of Presidents for the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) and serves on the regional executive council for the American Red Cross of South Carolina. [40]
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), Professor (adjunct) at the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame, and Research Assistant (U.S. Senate Labor Committee). [41]
Benson is the author of Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel [42] and, with co-author Hal Boyd, published College for the Commonwealth: A Case for Higher Education in American Democracy [43] 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." [44] Their work was nominated for the University of Louisville 2020 Grawemeyer Award in Education.
Benson's third book was released in 2022 by Johns Hopkins University Press. Titled Daniel Coit Gilman and the Birth of the American Research University, this work recounts 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. [45] [46] Benson delivered the keynote address at the annual Johns Hopkins Master of Liberal Arts Colloquium in May 2021, focusing on his Gilman research and writing, and was invited back to campus for Alumni weekend in 2023 and interviewed by Hopkins president Ron Daniels as part of the JHU Press “Meet the Author” series. [47] [48] In December 2023, the Gilman title was named among the best education books of the year by Forbes. [49]
Benson is regularly sought after for public speeches and appearances. He was a featured contributor to the Huffington Post for five years; [50] has written articles for the Jerusalem Post, Lexington Herald-Leader, the Louisville Courier Journal, the Kansas City Star, the Deseret News, and the Salt Lake Tribune, among others; and appeared on ESPN's Paul Finebaum Show.
Benson and his first wife, Celia Barnes, divorced in 2004. They are the parents of two children, Emma and Samuel. [8] Emma is the medical specialist for KSL-TV in Salt Lake City, Utah. [51] Samuel is the national political correspondent for the Deseret News . [52]
Benson and his wife, Debi, are the parents of three children: Truman, Tatum and Talmage. [53]
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. [8]
The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The 14 member institutions of the Sun Belt are distributed across the Southern United States.
Thomas Spencer Monson was an American religious leader, author, and the 16th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As president, he was considered by adherents of the religion to be a prophet, seer, and revelator. Monson's early career was as a manager at the Deseret News, a Utah newspaper owned by the LDS Church. He spent most of his life engaged in various church leadership positions and public service.
Daniel Coit "D. C." Gilman was an American educator and academic. Gilman was instrumental in founding the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale College, and subsequently served as the second president of the University of California, Berkeley, as the first president of Johns Hopkins University, and as founding president of the Carnegie Institution.
CCU may refer to:
Eastern Kentucky University is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. It also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, Lancaster, and Manchester and offers over 40 online undergraduate and graduate options.
Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now has over 1,800 graduates each year with baccalaureate and other graduate degrees from its six colleges. SUU offers more than 140 undergraduate and 19 graduate programs. More than 10,000 students attend SUU.
Coastal Carolina University is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an independent university in 1993.
Joseph Hugh Moglia is an American businessman and former football coach. He was head football coach at Coastal Carolina University from 2012 to 2016 and again in 2018 after spending the 2017 season on medical leave. During his tenure, the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers transitioned from the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). In six seasons, Coastal Carolina compiled a record of 56–22.
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Milton Bennion was an American educator and a university and educational administrator.
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Horry-Georgetown Technical College (HGTC) is a public technical college in Conway, South Carolina. It is a part of the South Carolina Technical College System.
HTC Center, originally known as the Student Recreation and Convocation Center, is a 3,370-seat multi-purpose arena located on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina. It is home to the Coastal Carolina University men's and women's basketball teams and the women's volleyball teams. The arena replaced Kimbel Arena as Coastal Carolina's basketball and volleyball home. On August 2, 2012, Horry Telephone Cooperative purchased the naming rights to the venue.
Scott L. Wyatt is an American attorney, politician, and academic administrator serving as the 16th president of Southern Utah University. He previously served as the 15th president of Snow College and as a member of the Utah State Legislature.
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DeVante' Jones is an American professional basketball player for Cedevita Olimpija of the ABA League. He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference. He previously played for the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.
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Michael N Martinez was the first Hispanic American lawyer in Utah. He went on to a long career in the law working in both government and private practice. He was a "vocal minority rights advocate" during his career, serving on many boards and commissions dedicated to furthering the rights of Hispanics and other people of color.
Clayton Isbell is an American football safety who is a free agent. He played college football at Illinois State, Utah, and Coastal Carolina before being signed by the Panthers as an undrafted free agent.
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