Mel Benson was elected to Suncor's Board of Directors in April 2000 and is chair of the environment, health and safety committee and a member of the human resources and compensation committee. He is president of Mel E. Benson Management Services Inc., an international management consulting firm based in Calgary, and is a director of PanGlobal Energy Ltd., Kanetax Energy Inc. and Tenax Inc.
Mr. Benson retired from an international oil company and held previous positions with the Secretary of State Department and Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton.
Mr. Benson is an active member of several charitable and Aboriginal organizations. He is a member of the Council for Advancement of Native Development Officers, the Canadian Aboriginal Professional Association, and is on the board of governors of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). He is also a director of the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board.
He was the recipient of a 2003 National Aboriginal Achievement Award, the Red Cross Service Award, the Alberta Aboriginal Recognition Award and the Business Development Award. He received the Alberta Justice Crime Prevention Recognition Award from the Minister of Justice and was recognized for his contributions to the community by the Government of the Northwest Territories. He is also a director of the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society (STARS) and past chairman of the Pembina Oil Producers Association.
Mr. Benson is a member of Alberta's Beaver Lake Cree Nation. He has three children and three grandchildren.
|