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

Snow College Snow College is a public community college in Ephraim, Utah. It offers certificates and associate degrees in a number of areas, along with bachelor's degrees in music and software engineering and a four-year nursing program. Snow College is part ...

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 * Doug Ricks, American politician and member o ...

, and

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

. Bennion was born and raised in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

to educator

Lowell L. Bennion Lowell Lindsay Bennion (July 26, 1908 – February 21, 1996) was an American educator, sociologist, and humanitarian. He wrote extensively on religious living in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and was an advocate fo ...

and Merle Colton. He served a mission 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 Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church) in Scotland and earned a

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

from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. He married Marjorie Hopkins in the Salt Lake Temple in 1963. Bennion went to

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

where he earned an MPA degree. Following this he worked for the state of Wisconsin and then the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

in budget positions. He also received a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the LDS Church's New York New York South Mission. 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 an ...

, 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 clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

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 h ...

. From 2013 to 2016, Bennion served as

of the Manhattan New York Temple.

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) People 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