Allen R. Benton

Allen Richardson Benton (October 1, 1822 – January 1, 1914) was an American scholar and academic administrator who served as the first Chancellor of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 1871 to 1876, as the president of North-Western Christian University (now Butler University) from 1861 to 1868 and again from 1886 to 1891, and possibly as the president of Mount Union College from 1869 to 1871.

Early life Benton was born in 1822 near Ira, a town in Cayuga County, New York. and served as its principal until 1854

In January 1871, the University of Nebraska Board of Regents elected Benton as its first chancellor. and they had two daughters and a son: Grace Benton Dales, Mattie Benton Stewart, and Howard Benton.

After the death of his wife Silence in 1900 and resigning from teaching at Butler University, Benton returned to Nebraska in 1907 to be close to his eldest daughter Grace who was still living in Lincoln with her husband J. Stuart Dales. Benton died on January 1, 1914, at the home of his eldest daughter Grace. Upon his death in a formal resolution, the Butler University Board of Directors praised Benton for his "unfailing courtesy and tolerance, the deep learning and convictions, the well rounded character and life of our old friend and teacher."

Benton's grandson, Benton Dales, served as department chair and professor of chemistry at the University of Nebraska from 1903 to 1917.