Steven Don Bennion (born August 17, 1941) has served as president of

Snow College Snow College is a Public college, public community college in Ephraim, Utah. It offers certificates and associate degrees along with bachelor's degrees in music, software engineering, and nursing. Snow College is part of the Utah System of High ...

Ricks College Ricks may refer to: People * Andre Ricks (born 1996), American basketball player * Bob Ricks (21st century), American police chief * Christopher Ricks (born 1933), British literary critic and scholar * Desmond Ricks, American football player * ...

, and

Southern Utah University Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah, United States. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now has over 1,800 graduates each year with baccalaureate and other graduate degrees from its ...

. Bennion was born and raised in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

to educator Lowell L. Bennion and Merle Colton. He served a

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church) in Scotland and earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

. He married Marjorie Hopkins in the

Salt Lake Temple The Salt Lake Temple is a Temple (LDS Church), temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At , it is the Comparison of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Sa ...

in 1963. Bennion went to

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

where he earned an

MPA MPA or mPa may refer to: Academia Academic degrees * Master of Performing Arts * Master of Professional Accountancy * Master of Public Administration * Master of Public Affairs Schools * Mesa Preparatory Academy * Morgan Park Academy * M ...

degree. Following this he worked for the state of Wisconsin and then the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in budget positions. He also received a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Bennion served as president of Snow College from 1982 to 1989. While Bennion was president of Snow College, the Career Center and honors program were started, as was the Snow College Foundation. Bennion then began his tenure as president of Ricks College in 1989. Some initiatives during his presidency at Ricks included preparing the college for the future as computer access for students was expanded. The "fast track" program was developed to allow more students to attend. As a result of that program, student enrollment increased to 8,250 students. The John Taylor Building, the first new building on campus in 17 years, was constructed during his tenure. Bennion left Ricks College in 1997 to become the president of Southern Utah University. In 2006, Bennion left Southern Utah University to serve as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the LDS Church's New York New York South

Mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

. He served as mission president until 2009. Bennion is the grandson of prominent Utah educator

Milton Bennion Milton Bennion (June 7, 1870 – April 5, 1953) was an American educator and a university and educational administrator. Biography Bennion was born in Taylorsville, Utah Territory. He received a B.S. degree from the University of Utah in 1897 a ...

, who served as the first president of what would later become Southern Utah University. In addition to being a mission president, Bennion has served in the LDS Church as a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

and a member of a

stake presidency A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in certain denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. The name "stake" derives from the Book of Isaiah: "enlarge the place of thy tent; stretch forth the curtains of thine ha ...

. From 2013 to 2016, Bennion served as

of the

Manhattan New York Temple The Manhattan New York Temple is the 119th operating temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It is the church's second "high rise" temple to be constructed, after the Hong Kong China Temple, and the third converte ...

References

BYU-Idaho bio of Bennion
1941 births 21st-century Mormon missionaries American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints American Mormon missionaries in Scotland American Mormon missionaries in the United States Cornell University alumni Living people Mission presidents (LDS Church) Educators from Salt Lake City Presidents of Brigham Young University–Idaho Snow College faculty Southern Utah University faculty Temple presidents and matrons (LDS Church) University of Utah alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Latter Day Saints from Wisconsin Latter Day Saints from Utah Latter Day Saints from Idaho Latter Day Saints from New York (state) {{LDS-bio-stub