Former College of Charleston President P. George Benson has been elected chairman of the Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

For Benson, who also teaches decision science in the College’s School of Business, this is his third consecutive term as chairman of the foundation.

P. George Benson

P. George Benson

Benson was born in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Bucknell University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. He did graduate work at New York University and earned a doctorate in decision sciences from the University of Florida. Benson taught in the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, served as the dean of the Rutgers Business School at Rutgers University and as dean of the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia, prior to serving eight years as the president of the College of Charleston, where he continues to teach statistics.

Benson serves on the boards of directors of three public companies  – AGCO Corporation, Crawford & Company, and Primerica, Inc. – and has been recognized for exemplary leadership in that capacity.

His service to the Baldrige Enterprise includes being appointed to the nine-member panel of national judges for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and serving as a member of the Baldrige Board of Overseers, including a two-year term as chair, prior to being elected to the Baldrige Foundation Board of Directors in 2007.

“I am honored to have been reelected as chair at this critical time in the history of the foundation and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award,” says Benson. “I am pleased to be able to continue supporting and helping to guide our ongoing efforts to transform and strengthen the entire Baldrige Enterprise.”

The Baldrige Foundation is the private-sector partner of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program (BPEP), a federal program in the National Institute of Standards and Technology within the Department of Commerce. The Mission of the Baldrige Foundation is to ensure the long-term financial growth and viability of BPEP, and to support organizational performance excellence.