Biography

P. George Benson is the 21st president of the College of Charleston. He became president on February 1, 2007.

President Benson came to the College of Charleston from his position as dean of the University of Georgia’s C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry College of Business. Prior to that, he served for five years as dean of the Rutgers Business School at Rutgers University. From 1977 to 1993, he was a faculty member in the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

In the late 1990s, President Benson served for three years as one of nine national judges for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. In 2004, he was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to the Board of Overseers for the Baldrige Award, and in 2005 he was named Chairman of the Board of Overseers. In 2000, he was named a Fellow of the Decision Sciences Institute, the institute’s highest honor.

President Benson serves on the boards of directors of AGCO Corporation (Duluth, Ga.), Nutrition 21, Inc. (Purchase, N.Y.), Crawford & Company (Atlanta, Ga.), and the National Bank of South Carolina (Columbia, S.C.).

He received a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Bucknell University, did graduate work in operations research in the engineering school at New York University, and received a doctorate in decision sciences from the University of Florida.

His research interests include quality management, strategic management, belief formation, and judgmental forecasting. He consults nationally in the areas of applied statistics, quality management, and employment discrimination. He is active in the national initiative to improve the teaching of statistical thinking and quality management in schools of business.

He is co-author of one of the leading textbooks in business statistics, Statistics for Business and Economics. The 10th edition was published by Prentice Hall in 2007.

He was a bimonthly columnist for Georgia Trend, a statewide business and politics magazine from 1996–2006.

At the College of Charleston, President Benson’s primary emphasis is on strengthening partnerships with individuals, groups and businesses to increase academic collaboration, community engagement, entrepreneurial activities and financial contributions for scholarships, programs, and faculty. He has launched several initiatives designed to improve the College’s current operations and future development. Most notably, he has initiated a comprehensive strategic planning process involving faculty, staff and students, along with alumni, friends and other important constituents across the state and the nation. The plan will articulate the College’s vision and define its future priorities.

President Benson is a native of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and is married to Jane Oas Benson of Wayzata, Minnesota. They have three children, Jeff, Laura and Alison. Jeff is a graduate of the University of Georgia, Laura is a student at the University of Georgia and Alison is a student at the College of Charleston.

Read a complete biography of President Benson.