Bruce benson musician

President of the University of Colorado

Bruce Davey Benson (born July 4, ) is a United States businessman and educational administrator, who served as the 22nd president of the University of Colorado (CU) from March to July 1,

Education

Benson graduated from the Berkshire School and then studied at Cornell University before earning his bachelor's degree in geology from CU-Boulder in He received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from CU in ^[1]

Business career

In , Benson founded the Benson Mineral Group, an oil and gas exploration and production company.

Since then, his business interests have expanded to include banking, mortgage servicing, real estate development and management, geothermal power, manufacturing, trucking, restaurants and cable television. In he was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame.

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.

Three different Colorado governors have named Benson to educational initiatives and governing boards, all of which he chaired: the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (–89), Metropolitan State College Board of Trustees (–07), P Education Coordinating Council (–08) and the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel for Higher Education (–03).

Outside Colorado, he was board chair of the Berkshire School in Massachusetts (–94) and also served on the board of Smith College (–95).

Nationally, Benson was a member of the board of directors of the National Park Service and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a member of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biography of republican bruce benson wife I decided I knew which way the oil sands were running. Bruce Benson. Bruce Benson. Senate confirmed him as a public member of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Benson became president of Colorado University in March He celebrated his 10th anniversary in March , becoming the longest serving CU president of the past 65 years. During Benson's tenure, CU's research funding reached record levels several years (including topping $1 billion in –17).^[2]

Benson and his wife, Marcy Head Benson, chaired CU's $ billion Creating Futures fundraising campaign,^[3] which was announced in April and concluded in November with $ billion in donations to support scholarships, academic enhancements (endowed faculty positions, programs), research projects and capital improvements across CU's campuses.

On July 18, , Benson announced his intention to retire, effective July

Controversies

Benson was selected as CU president amid concerns among the CU faculty and community members about his lack of academic pedigree and for climate change denial, close connection to partisan politics (Benson unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Colorado as the Republican nominee in ), and close ties to the oil and gas industry.^[4] However, Benson—the longest sitting president in the past 65 years—has become notable for his philanthropy, not accepting salary increases and described as the university's "volunteer" president.^[5]

In after the State of Colorado passed Colorado Amendment 64 legalizing the use of recreational marijuana, Benson sent an email to constituents commenting on his personal disapproval of the amendment and erroneously suggesting that the CU system would lose federal funding because of its passage.^[6]

Benson founded the Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization at the University of Colorado.

For the –21 academic year, the Center's "Visiting Scholar for Conservative Thought and Policy" was John Eastman,^[7][a] a former professor at the Chapman School of Law, who advised President Donald J. Trump on legal theories to reverse the results of the Presidential election when Joe Biden defeated Trump.

In a June 19, editorial, the Denver Post called on CU to essentially close the Center (" revoke the center's space on campus" and "remove CU's good name from the center's title") due to Eastman's actions while visiting scholar.^[10] Eastman used his CU email to email his legal theories to the White House, addressed the "Save America Rally" prior to the January 6, attack on the Capitol, and acknowledged that his strategy to overturn the election would probably be rejected by the Supreme Court.^[11] It is unknown whether Benson intervened in Eastman's actions during his tenure as visiting scholar at the Benson Center, which suspended Eastman on January 21, ^[12]

Politics

Benson was the chairman of the Colorado Republican Party from to and was the Republican nominee for Colorado governor in an unsuccessful bid.

Biography of republican bruce benson Benson has immersed himself in the Denver and Colorado community for the last 30 years. Benson recently spoke with EARTH contributor Terri Cook about what drew him to geology, how his perspective as a geologist influences his decisions, and how he has dealt with state budget cuts. Martin, Jim February 6, In geology you have to add pieces together.

Personal life

Benson and his second wife Marcy have three children and 10 grandchildren.

Notes

References

External links