Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Ricks College President Steven D. Bennion on Friday was named president of Southern Utah University.
Bennion will replace Gerald R. Sherratt, who retires July 1 after 15 years at SUU. The new president was clearly a popular choice, winning not only the unanimous vote of the state Board of Regents but also enthusiastic praise from alumni and community leaders."I want to make a commitment to all of you," Bennion told the crowd that gathered for the announcement on the SUU campus. "We will do our very best to build upon the great traditions of this place."
Those traditions began with the founding of the college 100 years ago when Bennion's grandfather, Milton Bennion, was named its first president.
"I think it's fitting that Dr. Bennion take this institution into the next 100 years," said Dixie Leavitt, a Cedar City community leader and former state senator.
Bennion, 55, became president of Ricks College in 1989. Ricks, in Rexburg, Idaho, is part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints educational system.
"I love what I've been doing the past eight years, and so, I am leaving Ricks with mixed emotions," Bennion said, confessing, "I had to be nudged into coming."
He is also a former president of the two-year Snow College in Ephraim.
He said he accepted the SUU job because of the challenge of moving from a community college to a four-year university and because of the character of the campus.
Bennion said that, like Ricks, SUU is a "personalized campus" that makes it possible for students, administrators and faculty to get to know one another. "We hope we can be part of this family," he said.
A search committee began reviewing the applications of 109 candidates for the job late last year. It trimmed the list to 10 in February and then presented four finalists to regents.
Regent Clifford S. LeFevre, who made the motion naming Bennion to the post, said all four finalists were very qualified for the job and could have won the unanimous support of the board.
One of the determining factors appeared to be the "comfort level" board members felt with Bennion, said regent Dale Zabriskie, who also served on the search committee.
Vaughn McDonald, president of the SUU Alumni Association, called Bennion an "outstanding choice" for president. He said Bennion has exceptional credentials, is known for working well with students and faculty, has been a successful fund-raiser and is no stranger to the community.
"We are very excited about the selection," McDonald said. "There is no question in my mind that he will be accepted and supported here."
Leavitt, whose wife served on the search committee and who is the father of Gov. Mike Leavitt, agreed, saying, "I've known Steve a long time, and I know he will fit in very well."
While the terms of the new president's contract were not released Friday, regents last year set the pay of the SUU president at $117,100 per year, the lowest among presidents of the four universities in the state system.
At the same time that the other universities have struggled to maintain enrollment, SUU has seen its student population grow from 1,800 in 1982 to more than 5,000 this year.
Noting that other institutions throughout the country are finding it difficult to recruit students, Bennion said, "Growth is a better problem than the alternative."
Before he served as president of Snow College, Bennion was an associate commissioner for planning in the Utah System of Higher Education. He was also project director for Wisconsin's statewide study of nursing education as well as academic planner and program coordinator for the University of Wisconsin system. He also once taught political science at Snow.
A graduate of the University of Utah, he earned a master's degree in public administration from Cornell University and a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Wisconsin.
He and his wife, Marjorie Hopkins, have five children and five grandchildren. Bennion is the son of the late Lowell Bennion, a well-known educator, writer and community volunteer in Salt Lake City, and Merle Colton Bennion.