Dr. Benight joined the University of Colorado Colorado Springs in 1993 after completing his postdoctoral training in behavioral medicine at the University of Miami. Dr. Benight founded and is Executive Director of the Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience at UCCS.

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Dr. Benight's primary area of interest is human adaptation from trauma. Throughout his career, his research has focused on the human capacity to recover from traumatic events such as natural disasters, man-made disasters, motor vehicle accident trauma, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and bereavement. He is a reviewer for several primary journals in health and trauma psychology. 

Dr. Benight earned his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Stanford University with an emphasis in Health Psychology/Behavioral Medicine in June 1992, his Master's in Counseling from Arizona State University in 1986, and his Bachelors in Business Management from Arizona State University in 1983.

Dr. Benight is a licensed Psychologist and is trained in the latest empirically supported treatments for trauma. 

Dr. Benight served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Traumatic Stress and is currently on the Editorial Boards for the journals Anxiety Stress and Coping, and Stress and Health.

In 2010, Dr. Benight received the award "New Inventor of the Year" from the University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office.

In 2012, Dr. Benight was honored by the Psychological Society of the Pikes Peak Region with the Cornelia Sabine Award for Outstanding Contribution to Psychology.

In March 2013, Dr. Benight was named a President's Teaching Scholar, the highest accolade for teaching at the University of Colorado. He is one of only 10 UCCS faculty to have received this distinction. 

He has received grants through the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Science Foundation, Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Association, and the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center/Department of Defense. 

2014: Dr. Benight was elected to the Board of the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies.