Lexington, Va. (May 11, 2021) – Michael T. Benson, president of Coastal Carolina University, was recently elected to the Board of Trustees for the Omicron Delta Kappa Society and Educational Foundation, Inc. His three-year term as one of the Society’s at-large trustees will begin on July 1, 2021.
The announcement of the election was made by Tara S. Singer, president and chief executive officer of O∆K. Singer said, “Omicron Delta Kappa is excited to have Mike Benson join our Board of Trustees. Dr. Benson is a noted scholar, academic administrator, and community leader. He is the embodiment of all that our leadership society stands for and values. I look forward to working with him in this capacity.”
Benson is a charter member of the circle (chapter) at Southern Utah University. He was also instrumental in establishing the circle at Eastern Kentucky University, where he served as president for nearly seven years. Before his appointment at Southern Utah, Benson was the president of Snow College. He became the third president of Coastal Carolina University on Jan. 1, 2021.
Benson earned his bachelor’s degree cum laude from Brigham Young University in 1990 with a major in political science and double minors in English and history. He is an initiate of the BYU chapter of Phi Kappa Phi. Benson completed his doctorate in modern history from the University of Oxford (St. Antony’s College) in 1995, where he was a Rotary Foundation Scholar and recipient of the Oxford Graduate Overseas Fellowship. He also earned a master’s degree cum laude in nonprofit administration in 2011 from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame, where he was the recipient of the prestigious Father Theodore Hesburgh Founder’s Award. Benson is pursuing a Master of Liberal Arts at Johns Hopkins University and will graduate this fall.
About the appointment, Benson said, “I am honored by this invitation to join the O∆K Board of Trustees, as I am a firm believer in its mission and values and have seen firsthand the positive impact its activities have on students, faculty, staff, and communities. I can’t wait to get started and am eager to help any way I can moving forward.”
Omicron Delta Kappa Society, the National Leadership Honor Society, was founded in Lexington, Virginia, on December 3, 1914. A group of 15 students and faculty members established the Society to recognize and encourage leadership at the collegiate level. The founders established the O∆K Idea—the concept that individuals representing all phases of collegiate life should collaborate with faculty and others to support the campus and community. O∆K’s mission is to honor and develop leaders; encourage collaboration among students, faculty, staff, and alumni; and promote O∆K’s ideals of collaboration, inclusivity, integrity, scholarship, and service college and university campuses throughout North America. The Society’s national headquarters are located in Lexington, Virginia.
Contact
- Martha Hunn, associate vice president and chief communication officer, Coastal Carolina University,
mhunn@coastal.edu
- Tara S. Singer, president and chief executive officer, Omicron Delta Kappa, (540) 458-5340,
tara@odk.org
