College to Host Engineering Executive-in-Residence

10/06/2015 

Jim Benham ’67 could inspire any student who wonders how a person might transform one’s self from college chemistry major to successful engineer, with some impressive corporate chops.

Currently a board member for Intevac of Santa Clara, Calif., and Richardson Electronics of La Fox, Ill., Benham will visit many SUNY Cortland classrooms attempting to do just that from Wednesday, Oct. 7, to Friday, Oct. 9.

	Jim Benham '67

As the College’s most recent Executive-in-Residence, during his visit he will address students in the Strategic Management class of Associate Professor of Economics Timothy Phillips, the Chemistry Lab class with Professor Gregory Phelan and Associate Professor Jeff Werner, and a Physics Power Electronics class with Assistant Professor Douglas Armstead. He’ll get the chance to eat lunch and talk with student research fellows and scholarship recipients individually and meet with faculty, staff and members of the Cortland College Foundation Board of Directors.

Benham also will deliver a lecture geared to science majors called “Night Vision Systems and a Career in Silicon Valley” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, in Bowers Hall, Room 1129.

The talk is free and open to the public. Students, faculty, staff and community members from many different interests are encouraged to participate in the seminar.

Benham earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at SUNY Cortland. He has a Master of Business Administration in Industrial Administration from Lynchburg College and completed a Stanford University program in manufacturing technology.

Benham has spent his career as an industrial engineer and research scientist.

From 1995 to 2013, Benham was president of Litton Electron Devices, a microwave tube manufacturer employing 500 people near Silicon Valley. He also is the past president and founder of E.O. Sensors in Palo Alto, an electrical optical sensor business that sold in the mid 1990s.

He began his career in 1967 as a research and development engineer with Raytheon, Machlett Labs in Stanford, Conn.

Benham and his wife, Jane Sheehy Benham ’68, currently live in Pleasanton, Calif.

Benham’s visit as Executive-in-Residence is supported by the Cortland College Foundation, the Alumni Engagement and Career Services. For more information, contact Lisa Court, associate vice president for development, at 607- 753-5571.