Fergus Area College Foundation Bigwood Lecture

Twenty-Third Annual Bigwood Lecture

Make the Future Your Friend!

M. James Bensen
Bemidji State University President Emeritus

The opportunities for tomorrow’s society are staggering in both size and impact!  Thousands of possibilities are ready for us each day to embrace and the world will never be the same.  Manufacturing, construction, agriculture, healthcare, communications, energy, transportation, and lifestyles are all postured for incredible change as we have never experienced before.  Education, research, ideation, experimentation, innovation, and design are the tools for a creative and fantastic future!  The revolution of technology is underway!

Jim Bensen is enjoying his role in working with organizations throughout the country to improve the “common good”.   He Chairs the Stewards of BemidjiLeads!, a nationally recognized community re-vitalization initiative where he lives.  In addition, he speaks throughout the world, writes for his profession, serves on more than a dozen boards, consults with corporations, and contributes to innovations in education.   Leadership and innovation are his passion!
 
Jim retired as president of Bemidji State University in August, 2001, after seven years of service and currently works with the university on a voluntary basis in the promotion of research, innovation, economic development, international relations, and advancement.  Earlier, he served as president of the Dunwoody College of Technology and also was the Dean of the School of Industry and Technology at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, Wisconsin.  He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Bemidji State University, his Master’s from UW-Stout, and his Doctorate from Penn State University.
 
Jim has held numerous offices in professional associations on the local, state, national and international levels and has been the recipient of many awards by the organizations that he has served.  Having been involved in educational development in several countries and after holding leadership and administrative assignments for over three decades, he values most being named by the students at Stout as their “distinguished teacher”.
 
Jim, and his wife Nancy, live on Big Turtle Lake in Bemidji, have five children and five grandchildren.