Indiana University of Pennsylvania Athletics

A quiet leader.  If anyone ever personified that tribute, it is Dr. Jack Benhart.  While there are other IUP roundball alumni who have excelled in many ways through the years, none have been any more effective than he in more ways and more consistently.
Hall -of-Fame-inductee Herm Sledzik's first captain, as a junior, after Sledzik became coach in 1963-64 (as well as cocaptain the following year), Benhart earned his team's Most Valuable Player award by averaging 21.8 points and 10.2 rebounds (including a high of 19) per game.
A starter for three years after transferring to then Indiana State College from the University of Arizona, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference first-team all-star scored 977 career points, ranking fourth in team history at the time {behind only Hall of Famers Jack Crossan, Joe DeLise and Jamie Kimbrough). He averaged in double figures and at least eight rebounds each season.
Such on-court credits preface the professional standing Benhart has achieved as 34-year member of the geography/earth science faculty at Shippensburg University.  Department chairman for the past 30 years, he is recognized internationally in his profession.
Interim Dean of Arts and Sciences on two different occasions as well as Interim Dean of Admissions, Benhart has also been active with various community planning councils, including the Franklin County Planning Commission, as chair, and former Governor Tom Ridge's Land Use Task Force.  He is president-elect of the Pennsylvania Geographical Society.
Awarded an NDENNational Defense Education Act fellowship after graduating from IUP, Benhart completed both his master's degree and Ph. D. at the University of Tennessee by 1972.
Among his many recognitions are a Distinguished Teaching Award by the National Council for Geographic Education, a Distinguished Geographer Award by the Pennsylvania Geographical Society and an Exceptional Academic Service Award by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Besides visiting a host of countries in all parts of the world, Benhart has taught courses at Oxford University and at the University of Salzburg in Austria, the latter in eight different summers.
Married to the former Patricia Speck since 1965, he is especially proud of son Dr. John Benhart, a member of IUP's geography and regional planning faculty for a number of years, and daughter-in-law Jacque, daughter Cristen and son-in-law Pete, who reside in Wheeling, West Virginia, and his four grandchildren, Carlee, Haley, Jake and Lauren.
His mother, Ann Benhart Wilk, resides in Pittsburgh, where Benhart graduated from Saint Wendelin High School.  There he was his basketball team's all-time leading scorer and was named MVP in the City Catholic League before becoming co-captain of Arizona's freshman team.