One Republican political figure will replace another as president of the University of Colorado.
Bruce Benson, the only candidate to emerge from a four-month search, was approved by the Board of Regents in a 7-to-2 vote late Wednesday night, The Denver Post reported.
The choice appears to be an unconventional one. Mr. Benson has never worked for a university, although he was board chairman of the Metropolitan State College of Denver. He has served on some educational boards in the state, and is co-chairman of Gov. Bill Ritter’s P-20 Education Coordinating Council.
Mr. Benson was chairman of the state’s Republican Party from 1987 to 1991 and an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1994. He owns Benson Mineral Group, an oil-and-gas-exploration company.
He will succeed Hank Brown, a former congressman and senator from Colorado, who has been president of the university since 2005. —Martin Van Der Werf