Bruce D. Benson
Encyclopedia
Bruce D. Benson became the 22nd President of the University of Colorado
in March 2008. He is an alumnus of the university, having earned a bachelor’s degree in Geology in 1964. Benson leads a university system with four campuses: Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs and the Anschutz Medical Campus. CU serves more than 58,000 students and has an annual budget of $2.72 billion.
Before his appointment in 2008, President Benson was a successful businessman active in a variety of educational, civic and political activities at the state and national levels. In 1965, he founded Benson Mineral Group, an oil and gas exploration and production company. Benson maintains his interests in the oil and gas industry even as President of a public university. Many CU students are concerned about his corporate and economic ties, and worry that it has a negative influence on his role as administrator.
Since the beginning of his oil days, Benson’s business interests have expanded to include banking, mortgage servicing, real estate development and management, geothermal power, manufacturing, trucking, restaurants and cable television. In 2009 he was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame.
President Benson has sat on boards of directors of dozens of companies, including United States Exploration, American Land Lease Corporation, Western Capital Investment Corporation and First Interstate Bank of Denver. He has made his money largely through banking and oil ventures, and has previously suggested to CU professors that climate change might be bunk.
Three different Colorado governors have named Benson to educational initiatives and governing boards, all of which he chaired: the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, Metropolitan State College Board of Trustees, P-20 Education Coordinating Council and the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel for Higher Education. Outside Colorado, he was board chair of the Berkshire School in Massachusetts for 10 years and also served on the board of Smith College
.
Nationally, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Park Service and was confirmed by the US Senate as a member of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
President Benson has been an avid supporter of his alma mater, having served as director of the Coleman Colorado Foundation-Institute for Cognitive Disabilities and as a board member of CU Boulder’s Center for the American West. Benson was national chair of the university’s comprehensive fundraising campaign from 1997-2003 and served on the CU Foundation’s Board of Directors. The Alumni Association honored him with its Recognition Award in 2001. The university has recognized him with the Ira C. Rothgerber Award, the University Medal and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. The Benson Earth Sciences Building was named for him in 1997.
President Benson’s community and civic involvement is extensive. It includes chairing the boards of the Denver Public Schools Foundation, Denver Zoo, Boy Scouts and Auraria Foundation. He has chaired many civic campaigns and most notably, was co-chair of the 2005 campaign that successfully passed Referendum C, which provided additional funding for education and the state budget.
Although no longer involved in politics, President Benson was active in a variety of political endeavors. He was the Republican nominee for governor in 1994 and chaired the Colorado Republican Party from 1987-1993 and 2002-2003. He has also served in many political roles, both nationally and locally. In fact, in 1990 he donated $50,000 to the Republican Party. Ellen S. Miller, executive director at the time of the Center for Responsive Politics, which has lobbied for stricter laws to regulate campaign finance legislation, noted that big-bucks political contributors like Benson "have economic and legislative interests, (New York Times article).
In his role as President, Benson has attracted a lot of private funding for the University of Colorado and its affiliates. Unfortunately, 98% of the funding is earmarked and does not actually cover operating costs of the University. Thus, despite an enormous swell in funding coming into the school, student tuition continues to rise.
Benson is married to Marcy Head Benson and has 3 children and 10 grandchildren. He was born July 4, 1938 in Chicago, Illinois. Marcy, however, was not his first wife. In fact, his relationship with Marcy began when he was already married.
Benson pulls significant weight in political circles and though many respect his tendency to say exactly what is on his mind without regard for audience, he has made some seriously controversial statements regarding the disabled among other things. Benson has also made a series of controversial decisions regarding University policy. Since being hired to CU in 2008, he has directed a lot of administrative energy towards rebranding the school. Part of this rebranding strategy involved joining the Pac-10 (now Pac-12), as part of an ongoing effort "to develop a super conference and in turn score a bigger television paycheck."
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado system is a system of public universities in Colorado consisting of three universities in four campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and University of Colorado Denver in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in...
in March 2008. He is an alumnus of the university, having earned a bachelor’s degree in Geology in 1964. Benson leads a university system with four campuses: Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs and the Anschutz Medical Campus. CU serves more than 58,000 students and has an annual budget of $2.72 billion.
Before his appointment in 2008, President Benson was a successful businessman active in a variety of educational, civic and political activities at the state and national levels. In 1965, he founded Benson Mineral Group, an oil and gas exploration and production company. Benson maintains his interests in the oil and gas industry even as President of a public university. Many CU students are concerned about his corporate and economic ties, and worry that it has a negative influence on his role as administrator.
Since the beginning of his oil days, Benson’s business interests have expanded to include banking, mortgage servicing, real estate development and management, geothermal power, manufacturing, trucking, restaurants and cable television. In 2009 he was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame.
President Benson has sat on boards of directors of dozens of companies, including United States Exploration, American Land Lease Corporation, Western Capital Investment Corporation and First Interstate Bank of Denver. He has made his money largely through banking and oil ventures, and has previously suggested to CU professors that climate change might be bunk.
Three different Colorado governors have named Benson to educational initiatives and governing boards, all of which he chaired: the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, Metropolitan State College Board of Trustees, P-20 Education Coordinating Council and the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel for Higher Education. Outside Colorado, he was board chair of the Berkshire School in Massachusetts for 10 years and also served on the board of Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
.
Nationally, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Park Service and was confirmed by the US Senate as a member of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
President Benson has been an avid supporter of his alma mater, having served as director of the Coleman Colorado Foundation-Institute for Cognitive Disabilities and as a board member of CU Boulder’s Center for the American West. Benson was national chair of the university’s comprehensive fundraising campaign from 1997-2003 and served on the CU Foundation’s Board of Directors. The Alumni Association honored him with its Recognition Award in 2001. The university has recognized him with the Ira C. Rothgerber Award, the University Medal and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. The Benson Earth Sciences Building was named for him in 1997.
President Benson’s community and civic involvement is extensive. It includes chairing the boards of the Denver Public Schools Foundation, Denver Zoo, Boy Scouts and Auraria Foundation. He has chaired many civic campaigns and most notably, was co-chair of the 2005 campaign that successfully passed Referendum C, which provided additional funding for education and the state budget.
Although no longer involved in politics, President Benson was active in a variety of political endeavors. He was the Republican nominee for governor in 1994 and chaired the Colorado Republican Party from 1987-1993 and 2002-2003. He has also served in many political roles, both nationally and locally. In fact, in 1990 he donated $50,000 to the Republican Party. Ellen S. Miller, executive director at the time of the Center for Responsive Politics, which has lobbied for stricter laws to regulate campaign finance legislation, noted that big-bucks political contributors like Benson "have economic and legislative interests, (New York Times article).
In his role as President, Benson has attracted a lot of private funding for the University of Colorado and its affiliates. Unfortunately, 98% of the funding is earmarked and does not actually cover operating costs of the University. Thus, despite an enormous swell in funding coming into the school, student tuition continues to rise.
Benson is married to Marcy Head Benson and has 3 children and 10 grandchildren. He was born July 4, 1938 in Chicago, Illinois. Marcy, however, was not his first wife. In fact, his relationship with Marcy began when he was already married.
Benson pulls significant weight in political circles and though many respect his tendency to say exactly what is on his mind without regard for audience, he has made some seriously controversial statements regarding the disabled among other things. Benson has also made a series of controversial decisions regarding University policy. Since being hired to CU in 2008, he has directed a lot of administrative energy towards rebranding the school. Part of this rebranding strategy involved joining the Pac-10 (now Pac-12), as part of an ongoing effort "to develop a super conference and in turn score a bigger television paycheck."