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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
COMMEMORATING THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF CHARLES BENTON
WHEREAS, Charles Benton, trusted advisor to three US Presidents, visionary film distributor, national and local philanthropist and assiduous advocate for public media and democracy died on April 29, 2015 leaving behind family, countless friends and a community profoundly enriched for having known him; and
WHEREAS, Charles Benton was a trusted advisor who served three Presidents of the United States. President Jimmy Carter appointed him to be the Chairman of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and as Chairman of the First White House Conference on Library and Information Services. President Bill Clinton appointed him to the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters. President Barack Obama appointed Benton to serve on the National Museum and Library Services Board, an advisory body that includes twenty presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed members of the general public who have demonstrated expertise in, or commitment to, library or museum services; and
WHEREAS, Charles Benton began his long career in the media education and entertainment business shortly after graduating from Yale University. He joined Britannica Films, owned by his father. He served in various positions before leaving to teach 5th grade at Washington Elementary School in Evanston. After he rejoined the company as a salesman, he quickly became the company's top seller and later was Vice President of Marketing. During a realignment of various Britannica companies, he became the president of the newly formed Encyclopaedia Britannica Education Corporation; and
WHEREAS, Charles Benton created the nonprofit Fund for Media Research to study educational uses of new media. The U.S. Office of Education (now the Department of Education) hired the Fund to research the use of television in the s...
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