George Charles Sumner Benson, PhD

George Charles Sumner Benson

Founding President, Claremont McKenna College, Founder, Harvey Mudd and Pitzer Colleges

Find A Grave Memorial ID # 158611502

George Charles Sumner Benson, the founding president of Claremont McKenna College who wrote eight books on American government and politics over a fifty year period and served as a key Pentagon official in the first Nixon administration, has died at 91. Dr. Benson passed away on Monday, March 22, 1999, at the Pilgrim Place health facility in Claremont.

The public is invited to a memorial service celebrating the life and achievements of Dr. Benson. The service will be held on campus at Garrison Theater, 231 E. 10th Street in Claremont, at 11 am on Saturday, April 3, 1999.

Dr. Benson was born on January 16, 1908 in New York City, where his father was an Episcopal priest. The family subsequently moved to Ukiah, California. In 1928, Dr. Benson graduated from Pomona College, which had been founded in 1887 by his grandfather, Charles Burt Sumner. He received his M.A. in 1929 from the University of Illinois and his Ph.D. in government in 1931 from Harvard University, where he was an instructor in government from 1931-34.

In the 1930s, Dr. Benson served as research director for the Council of State Governments in Chicago, lecturer at the University of Chicago, associate professor at the University of Michigan, and professor at Northwestern University. In 1941, he published his best known book, The New Centralization, which questioned the concentration of power in the federal government. From 1942-46, he was a military government officer in the US Army, and was responsible for providing food for several occupied provinces in Italy and Austria.

In 1946, Dr. Benson became the founding president of Claremont McKenna College. Over the next two decades, he led the college into the first rank of liberal arts colleges in the United States, with a special reputation in economics and government. He was particularly proud of having recruited an outstanding early faculty. Strongly committed to the Claremont Colleges group plan, he played a leading role in founding Harvey Mudd College and Pitzer College and also in bringing the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden to Claremont.

Reflecting his interest in public service, Dr. Benson was active in Republican Associates of Los Angeles, supported the early career of Congressman Richard Nixon, served as research director for President Eisenhower's Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, and chaired all campaigns, from 1978 through 1996, of Congressman David Dreier (R-Covina), the Claremont McKenna College alumnus who is chairman of the House Rules Committee.

Dr. Benson retired from the presidency of Claremont McKenna College in 1969 to accept the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs under President Nixon. He was instrumental in persuading many universities to keep Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs when such programs were under attack across the nation.

Returning to Claremont in 1972, Dr. Benson published a trilogy on ethics in American life: Amoral America (1975), Political Corruption in America (1978), and Business Ethics in America (1982). These books drew on his beliefs as the son and grandson of Protestant ministers and contributed to the national movement to teach ethics in schools and colleges. Into his late 80s, Dr. Benson remained an active presence on campus, pursuing his research and writing in his office and participating in college events.

Dr. Benson is survived by his two sons, Brien and Sumner, his three grandchildren, Andrew, Elizabeth, and Ryan, all of McLean, Virginia; and his stepson, Jack Lowe of Lakewood, Colorado. Dr. Benson's first wife, Mabel Gibberd Benson died on July 22, 1983. His second wife, Katharine Corbett Lowe Benson, died on March 1, 1999.

Reflecting Dr. Benson's varied charitable interests, gifts in his memory may be made to Claremont McKenna College, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, and the Episcopal Church (diocese of Los Angeles).
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George Charles Sumner Benson, an author of books on American politics and government who in 1946 was the founding president of what is now Claremont McKenna College, died on Monday at the Pilgrim Place nursing home in Claremont, Calif. He was 91 and lived in Claremont.

Mr. Benson, who was also a Pentagon official in the Nixon Administration, led the college through years in which the prestige of the small liberal arts school grew, particularly in economics and government. Formerly Claremont Men's College, it became Claremont McKenna College in 1981.

The college, which now has more than 1,000 students, is part of the cluster of colleges in the city of Claremont, 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. The other colleges are Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, Pomona, Scripps, the Claremont Graduate School and the Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences.

Mr. Benson advocated the idea of such academic clustering and played a leading role in the founding of Harvey Mudd College and Pitzer College as well as bringing the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden to Claremont.
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Dr. George C. S. Benson, president of Claremont Men’s College, was born in New York City, New York, on January 16,1908. He is the son of Eugene Huntington and Helen (Sumner) Benson.

He received his B.A. degree at Pomona College; his A.M. degree from University of Illinois; then attended Harvard University where he received the A.M. and Ph.D. degrees.

Dr. Benson was instructor at Harvard University from 1930-1934; head tutor at Lowell House from 1932 to 1934; lecturer at University of Chicago from 1934-1936; associate professor at University of Michigan from 1936-1941; professor at Northwestern University from 1941-1945; personnel director and director of Administrative Division, Office of Price Administration; professor of Public Administration at Claremont College since 1947, and president at Claremont Men’s College since 1947.

During World War II Dr. Benson served with the United States Army, first as Captain and then as Lt. Colonel, 1942-1946.

Member of Public Administration Committee; Society Science Research Council. Trustee of Claremont Men’s College. Former member of Michigan State Planning Commission, Civil Service Board, Michigan. Member of Unemployment Compensation Commission, Washtenaw County Board of Supervisors; American Political Science Association; American Economic Association; American Society of Public Administration; Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce; University Club, Los Angeles; and Phi Bet Kappa Fraternity.

Dr. Benson married Mabel Gibberd and they have two sons, George Charles Sumner Benson and Brien Gibberd Benson.

Additional Sources:

• George Benson, 91, A College Founder And Nixon Official
• College Mourns Death of Founding President George C.S. Benson
• George Charles Sumner Benson Papers & Records
• George Benson, Former College President, Los Angeles Times