Some people grow up living between separate parents, neighboring cities or clashing cultures—Professor Craig Benson spent his childhood in two worlds. Growing up in eastern Pennsylvania he was raised between his family’s dense industrial city home and their vacation home in the Pocono Mountains during the summers. In his eyes, growing up in a heavy industrial area was almost the “antithesis of sustainability.” While he was still young, Professor Benson understood the “juxtapositions of worlds”. The industrial world and the striking natural environment created an interface which he continues to cross each day in his position. He currently serves as the University’s Director of Sustainability Research & Education, Co-Director of the Office of Sustainability and chair of civil & environmental engineering and geological engineering. He has also been named as a Wisconsin Distinguished Professor in July 2007 to the present day. On top of all of that his research papers have been cited over 1145 times. Perhaps what creates Professor Benson’s continuing success at managing his numerous positions is his ability to be the link he saw at a young age between his two worlds.
Today, this value to transcend both spheres of the industrial and natural worlds as he did when he was young is integral to Professor Benson. He says the key issue of sustainability is “managing the interface between the natural and built environments, (while) understanding the importance of our industrial economy as well as our environment.” Professor Benson is one of those people who manage it for everyone else. He likens his role to a “gatekeeper” who is constantly “moving back and forth between worlds.” People who know Professor Benson understand his sincerity about the environment. Even his wife jokes that “he’d rather live in the woods than in the house.” With this passion of the world, Professor Benson sees sustainability in all aspects. It is with this mindset at a young age that he built his life forward. Benson received his bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University, worked in consulting for a year, then received his Master of Science in Engineering Degree and Doctor of Philosophy at University of Texas at Austin in Civil Engineering.
It was Wisconsin’s environmental progressiveness that drew Professor Benson in. He received other university job offers, but this one stood out. Professor Benson acknowledges the UW – Madison’s rich environmental history and culture as one of the alluring factors; environmental progressives from Aldo Leopold to John Muir have left their mark upon the University’s sustainable intrinsic values. Upon arriving, he was immediately put to work instructing faculty and students, teaching classes such as Soil Mechanics (CEE/GLE 330), Waste Containment Systems, Environmental Remediation, and developing environmental courses as well.
On his commitment to lifelong learning Benson says, “I’ve been in a university since I was 18 years old and I’m almost 50.” After receiving his PhD from Austin he was attracted towards academia. He captures the sprit of academia best by saying, “It’s about the creation of knowledge and pushing the frontiers of knowledge and science forward.” The knowledge that comes from research and academia fits into the grander scheme of engineering. Professor Benson sees research tie into what he calls “the Triangle of our Profession” which is comprised of teaching, service, research and practice tied together to make the foundation and support.
Photo Credit: Sara Karraker
If you’ve been around campus this last year, you’ve probably heard of the new environmental studies major. As of this last April, students on campus have the option of pursing the environmental studies major as a secondary major through the Nelson Institute, or can pursue a certificate in environmental studies. Along with the new environmental major, Professor Benson wants to spread the opportunity of sustainability to everyone, he says the “sustainability initiative has its roots in Nelson, but it’s meant to be a bigger umbrella for all of us.” As director of the Office of Sustainability Research and Education, he is working with faculty this fall to examine the curriculum being taught in hopes of creating a campus-wide sustainability certificate. Professor Benson will work with professors in order to “create opportunities for students across the campus.”
Along with this opportunity, Professor Benson also hopes to provide future opportunities such as internships for students. These internships would be different than filling out an application – students would propose their ideas and apply with that program in
mind. Through this future internship opportunity, students would work with all majors across colleges into teams. Professor Benson says working in diverse teams made up of business, social work, biology and engineering majors, students will foster a new kind of thinking. Often people overlook the humanistic challenges –Professor Benson says this story of opportunity would help students develop the skills to overcome the questions of, “what is often the biggest challenge, how do you get people to work together on a common goal?”
Photo Credit: Sara Karraker
Through his university positions, Professor Benson continues to be an influential leader in the faculty community. He is currently working with faculty to capture sustainability opportunities such as grants by the Environmental Protection Agency. Being awarded future grants Professor Benson says, could “create things on campus that we don’t have right now.”
Through the Office of Sustainability this fall, Professor Benson says there will be campus based initiatives for students, faculty and staff. While they haven’t been publically announced yet, Professor Benson says that they will affect our lives on campus and how we approach sustainability.
There’s no doubt that Professor Benson loves learning, but what he loves the most about his role in the University is his students. He says his biggest professional accomplishment is “the number of students I have had that are successful.” Over the years he has seen his students become successful consultants, contractors and faculty. Professor Benson acknowledges that affecting people’s lives is truly the biggest accomplishment. He always leaves his office door open providing a valuable resource for students, staff and faculty. Capturing the essence of what it truly means to be a professor, Professor Benson says it is, “providing vision to others and affecting their lives is the real value added to society.”