Benson stresses finances

C of C president formally installed

The College of Charleston must be entrepreneurial and strengthen relationships with alumni, the city and the Lowcountry, newly installed school President George Benson said Friday.

"I like to encourage people to think in terms of no boundaries," he said.

Benson spoke after being installed as the 21st president of the college in a ceremony at the Sottile Theatre. Representatives of 44 colleges and universities attended his inauguration, including University of South Carolina President Andrew Sorensen, Hampden-Sydney College President Walter Bortz III and Citadel President John Rosa.

The state provides 21 percent of the College of Charleston budget; six years ago the figure was 31 percent. More faculty, better salaries, a more diverse student body and better student retention are issues facing the college, said Benson, 61. The college "must squarely face and address the need for additional financial resources."

The importance of relationship-building was a lesson he took with him from his previous seven-year position as dean of the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia, where he raised more than $40 million. "The

relationships you build will turn into gateways," he said.

He has been president for eight months. The campus, with its stately oaks, historic buildings and clop of horse-drawn carriages, is unlike any college that he and his wife have known, he said. "Jane and I feel like we are living and working on a movie set."

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said Benson was a "splendid selection" and "excellent role model" for the college's 11,000 students.

The college's men's basketball coach, Bobby Cremins, described what it was like to play golf with Benson at Kiawah Island. "I saw qualities of character that will make him an exceptional president," Cremins said. "I quickly realized what a competitor he is" — Benson made a clutch putt to win $16 from Cremins.

"I am personally very proud to be a part of Benson's team," he said.

Benson was among five contenders for the presidency, and the school's 17-member board of trustees unanimously selected him for the post.

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.

From 1993 to 1998, he served as the dean of the Rutgers University Business School. From 1977 to 1993 he was a faculty member in the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. Prior to that he was a member of the technical staff at AT&T's Bell Telephone Laboratories in Whippany, N.J.

In his first job after college, Benson worked for the Army Security Agency in Arlington, Va., as a management analyst.

Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or pfindlay@postandcourier.com.