Dr. Benson was born in Blackfoot, ID in 1966 and was raised his whole life in Provo, Utah.  He is the second oldest of 9 children.  He graduated in 1984 from Provo High School with High Honors and as a member of the National Honor Society.  He played football for all four years as a defensive back and was a member of the team that won the state championship in 1983.  He also ran track in the sprints and the long jump (to him 400 meters is a distance race).

Following high school he attended one year at Brigham Young University before serving an LDS mission to Cochabamba, Bolivia.  Since that time he has always had a special interest in languages.  He has studied or is currently studying French, Italian, Japanese, American Sign Language, and most recently, Tongan.  He is only fluent in Spanish but has a goal to be able to read and understand a total 10 languages.

After his mission he attended BYU again and graduated in 1990 with a degree in Animal Science and a minor in Spanish and is a member of Sigma Delta Pi (Spanish National Honor Society). 

He met his wife, Leslianne Caldwell, while attending BYU and they were married on June 16, 1989.  They are the parents of 5 children, Emily, Sean, Katie, Matthew, and Tiffany.  They currently do not have any pets since their first pet after veterinary school, Cookie, died from cancer in November 2006. 

Dr. Benson graduated from veterinary school at Colorado State University in 1995, and was a member of Phi Zeta (Veterinary National Honor Society).  After a very brief time in the Sacramento, CA area before official graduation, he moved to Banning, CA where he began private practice.  After 3 ½ years there they moved an hour away to 29 Palms for another 1 ½ years before moving back to Utah.  He has worked now at Brickyard Animal Hospital since July 2000. 

His special interests include most forms of surgery, dentistry, and hip dysplasia and is one of ten veterinarians in the state certified to perform the PennHIP x-ray procedure to evaluate dogs for hip dysplasia.  In 2005 he served as the President of the Salt Lake Veterinary Medical Association, and is currently an active member of that organization as well as the state and national associations.

He has always been involved in scouting since he received his own Eagle Scout award as a teenager.  He loves camping and fishing and just being outdoors.  His two favorite areas to camp and visit are the Uinta Mountains in Utah and the Bitterroot Valley in western Montana.  He has been an avid sports fan his entire life and, until recent back problems slowed him down, enjoyed playing or watching just about any sport, especially softball and college football respectively.  He now enjoys spending time with his family and watching his children participate in their own activities.  In recent years he has been more active in local precinct politics and is currently serving as a Salt Lake County Delegate.  Over the years he has become an avid reader of non-fiction historical works, especially biographies.