C of C President Named to Baldrige Board
For Immediate Release
March 27, 2007
Contact: Mike Robertson
Senior Director of Media Relations
College of Charleston
843-953-5667
robertsonm@cofc.edu
Dr. George Benson Appointed to Baldrige Board of Directors
College of Charleston President P. George Benson has been appointed to the board directors of The Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
The Foundation is a nonprofit, private-sector organization that raises funds to endow the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The award is named for Malcolm Baldrige, who served as United States Secretary of Commerce from 1981 until his death in 1987. It rewards quality in the business, health care, education, and nonprofit sectors.
"Dr. Benson was chosen for a seat on the Board of Directors due to his long term and ongoing commitment and support for the Baldrige Award Program, says Dr. David Spong, Chair of the Baldrige Foundation. "We feel confident that his energy, experience and expertise will add strength and wisdom to the Foundation as we move forward towards the 20th Anniversary of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award."
The Foundation board, composed of outstanding leaders from both business and higher education, oversees the investment and disbursement of award funds, and approves the plans and funding requirements to ensure a successful award program.
"It is indeed an honor to be appointed to this critically important board," says Dr. Benson. "The Baldrige Foundation is the private sector vehicle through which organizations and individuals support the Baldrige program and it's mission of improving the performance of organizations in every sector of the U.S. economy.
The Baldrige Award is given by the President of the United States to businesses - manufacturing and service, small and large - and to education and health care organizations that apply and are judged to be outstanding in seven areas: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; human resource focus; process management; and results.
Three awards may be given annually in each of these categories: manufacturing, service, small business, education, and health care. In 2007, nonprofit organizations can apply for the award. The award is not given for specific products or services.
Congress established the award program in 1987 to recognize U.S. organizations for their achievements in quality and performance and to raise awareness about the importance of quality and performance excellence as a competitive edge.
In 1997, George Benson was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Mickey Kantor to a three-year term as one of nine national judges for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. In 2004, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans appointed Benson to a three-year term on the Board of Overseers for the Baldrige Award. In April 2005, Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez appointed him to a two-year term as Chairman of the Board of Overseers.
On Feb. 1, 2007, Benson became the 21st president of the College of Charleston.
Prior to arriving at the College of Charleston, Benson was dean of the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business, a post he assumed on July 1, 1998. He previously 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.
At the University of Georgia, Benson led the establishment of a customized MBA program for IBM Business Consulting Services. He initiated evening MBA Programs in Atlanta and at the Gwinnett University Center in Metro Atlanta; an evening MBA program for the U.S. Department of Energy at the Savannah River Site, Aiken, S.C.; an Executive MBA program in Atlanta; and a music business program in concert with the Hodgson School of Music on the Athens campus. In May 2005, the Terry College opened a 28,000 square foot executive education center in the Buckhead section of Atlanta. It is the home for the Executive MBA program, the evening MBA program, the Directors' College, Terry Third Thursday, and other executive programs.
At the University of Georgia, Benson also led the establishment of two new research centers: the Institute for Leadership Advancement and the Center for Information Systems Leadership. He fostered the development of several innovative executive education programs including a nationally accredited Directors' College for current and prospective corporate directors and a quarterly roundtable for Chief Financial Officers.
At Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, he was dean of the Graduate School of Management, the School of Management at Newark, and the School of Business at New Brunswick. He led the merger of these schools in 1996. He established executive MBA programs in Beijing and Singapore; and started off-campus, part-time MBA programs, including one in partnership with Merrill Lynch at their corporate campus near Princeton, N.J. In 1996, Business News New Jersey named Benson one of the "Top 100 Business People in New Jersey."
A native of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, Benson received his 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.
For more information on The Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, visit www.baldrigefoundation.org.
The College of Charleston is a nationally preeminent, public liberal arts and sciences university located in the heart of historic Charleston, South Carolina. With a student population of approximately 11,400 students, the College is known for its small-college feel blended with the advantages and diversity of an urban, mid-sized university. Founded in 1770, the College of Charleston is among the nation's top universities for quality education, student life and affordability. For more information, visit www.cofc.edu.
###