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Our President


Loyd Benson (left), new president of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, is congratulated by outgoing president Ken Fergeson. Benson officially assumed his new duties as president at the foundation’s recent Board of Trustees’ meeting in Oklahoma City.

Loyd Benson

Former Speaker of the House Loyd Benson, a FREDERICK native and current president of Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, has been named president of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. Benson joined the foundation as one of its trustees in 2000.

“The foundation has been a positive force in encouraging excellence in public education, and it is a privilege to have the opportunity of leading its efforts this next year,” Benson said.

Benson, who retired from the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 2002, now serves as president and principal executive officer of Pioneer Telephone Cooperative Inc. He was first elected to the Legislature in 1984, where he subsequently served as majority leader for six years before becoming speaker of the House. He was principal author of the law that overhauled Oklahoma’s juvenile justice system and provided critical leadership in legislation dealing with Oklahoma’s highway system and health care programs, in particular, those affecting the state’s rural health care delivery system.

Benson earned his associate’s degree from Cameron University and bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Oklahoma. An active state leader, he serves as a commissioner for District V for the Department of Transportation and was a charter trustee of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.

Benson is a board member of the Last Frontier Council of the Boy Scouts of America and serves as president of the Frederick School Enrichment Foundation. He has received numerous honors from both state and national organizations for his service in the legislative. He and his wife, Judy, have three children and seven grandchildren.