Benson to be 21st president of C of C
George Benson today officially becomes the 21st president of the College of Charleston after being on the job since February.
His 2:30 p.m. inauguration at the Sottile Theater is open to guests, faculty, staff and students. A reception follows at the Cistern.
Rain hampered the two-day celebration Thursday, forcing a dessert extravaganza and presidential meet-and-greet indoors.
Benson was among five contenders for the post.
He was dean of the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia from 1998 to 2007. He launched a music business program with $1 million from an alumnus record executive. The program meshed with the reputation of Athens, Ga., as a hotbed of pop and rock music that has produced bands such as the B-52s and R.E.M. Benson has said he will look for similar opportunities in Charleston, possibly in arts management, marine sciences or tourism and hospitality.
While at Georgia, he raised $40 million for the business college.
A native of Lewisburg, Pa., Benson received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Bucknell University in 1968, did graduate work in operations research in the engineering school of New York University, and received a Ph.D. in decision sciences from the University of Florida in 1977.
Half of the budget for the $45,000 inauguration festivities comes from the college general operating fund. The rest is from the College of Charleston Foundation and private donations, said college spokesman Mike Robertson.
The Citadel's general fund paid $77,592 last year for a week of activities marking the inauguration of Lt. Gen. John Rosa as the military college's 19th president, spokeswoman Charlene Gunnells said.
Benson's salary is $350,000, of which $160,000 is state funds. The College of Charleston Foundation will make up the difference. His pay is $135,000 more than Lee Higdon's. His contract includes a car and lets him live free in the president's house on Glebe Street.
From 1993 to 1998, Benson was dean of Rutgers Business School at Rutgers University. In 1996, Business News New Jersey named him one of the Top 100 Business People in New Jersey. From 1977 to 1993, he was a faculty member in the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.
Benson serves on the boards of directors of AGCO Corp. of Duluth, Ga.; Nutrition 21 Inc. of Purchase, N.Y.; Crawford & Co. of Atlanta; and the National Bank of South Carolina. Benson and his wife, Jane, have three children who are UGA undergraduates.
Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or pfindlay@post andcourier.com.
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