New biography chronicles rise of President Emeritus Benson

CU President Emeritus Bruce Benson is the subject of a new biography that traces his life from his upbringing on a World War II-era farm outside Chicago through his 11-year tenure as the university’s leader. “Bruce Benson: Oilfield Roughneck to University President” was written by Ken McConnellogue, retired CU vice president for communication.

“Bruce Benson had an interesting and eventful life from childhood to his time as CU president, and I was pleased and honored to be able to tell his story,” McConnellogue said. “He had a deep commitment to education at all levels and an abiding love for the University of Colorado.

“His CU presidency was a time of remarkable growth and challenge for the university,” he said.

Dating to his student days in the early 1960s, Benson’s affiliation with the university spanned more than a half-century. During that time, he was connected to CU as a student, alumnus, donor, volunteer and president. He retired as CU president in 2019.

The book features interviews with a variety of civic, education and political leaders who worked with (and sometimes against) Benson, including Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, businessman and philanthropist Philip Anschutz, Colorado State University Chancellor Tony Frank and former Gov. Bill Owens.

Born on the Fourth of July, 1938, Benson overcame an early family upheaval and educational difficulties to attend Cornell University. Unsatisfied with a curriculum that didn’t offer the soft-rock geology that interested him, the 20-year-old Benson hitchhiked west and began working as a roughneck in the oil patch around Big Piney, Wyoming. He learned rigs from the ground up before leaving the oilfields to pursue a geology degree from CU Boulder, which he earned in 1964. With the knowledge he gained of what was below the ground, he started Benson Mineral Group in 1965. After early struggles, it became a prosperous oil and gas company.

BMG’s sustained success allowed him to pursue his passion for making a difference in education, politics, philanthropy and community service. He served as chair of the board for several organizations in Colorado and beyond, including the Denver Public Schools Foundation, the Denver Zoo Foundation, the Colorado Commission on Higher Education and Berkshire School (Massachusetts) Board of Trustees.

He became CU’s 22nd president in 2008 after a contentious selection process. During his presidency, the four-campus system experienced a period of remarkable growth and success. Over his 11 years, CU set records in attendance, degrees awarded, fundraising, research funding and economic impact. Over the same period, it was also plagued by anemic state funding, which was $227 million when he started in 2008, then slashed to a low of $144 million in 2011-12 (in the aftermath of the Great Recession), before creeping back to $194 million in 2017-18.

Benson and his wife, Marcy, co-chaired two billion-dollar-plus fundraising campaigns for CU, Beyond Boundaries (completed in 2003) and Creating Futures (completed in 2013). The Bensons are among CU’s largest donors. Former CU first lady Marcy Benson worked for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush before meeting Bruce and marrying him in 1993. Both Bensons received honorary doctorates from CU, Bruce in 2004 and Marcy in 2020. Benson is the namesake of the Benson Earth Sciences Building at CU Boulder, for which he led the fundraising drive and was its largest donor.

Benson’s 11-plus year tenure made him the longest-serving CU president in 65 years at his retirement, and only three of the university’s 21 previous presidents served longer.