Benjamin is an assistant professor teaching in the areas of playwriting, directing, theatre history, and literature at Viterbo University. He previously served as a guest instructor for lighting design and theatre technology at the University of Central Missouri (UCM) and is also formerly an associate clinical professor who taught an array of theatrical subjects at Washington State University (WSU) that included lighting design, playwriting, and media literacy. Benjamin earned his MFA in Theatre Arts (focused on dramatic writing) from the University of Idaho, his Master's in Teaching (MA) and Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts and Drama from Washington State University. 

Benjamin currently serves as the national chair of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) National Playwriting Program (NPP) and has previously served as the Representation, Equity, and Diversity (RED) Coordinator. Professionally, Benjamin is a theatre generalist with experience in lighting design, set design, sound design, technical direction, production management, direction, as well as playwriting. He specializes in writing verbatim plays that highlight the stories of students who have in some way been marginalized. He also writes scenes and short plays for his students to use for contemporary scene work.

Honors Benjamin has received include Outstanding Faculty Achievement in the field of Lighting Design from the Kennedy Center (2009), The Horace Robinson/Jack Watson Award for Outstanding Service to Students from KCACTF Region 7 (2017), and Viterbo’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year (2025). On February 20^th 2026, Benjamin received the Kennedy Center Gold Medalion. The Gold Medallion honors individuals or organizations that have made extraordinary contributions to the teaching and producing of theatre and who have significantly dedicated their time, artistry, and enthusiasm to the development of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Most importantly, recipients have demonstrated a strong commitment to the values and goals of KCACTF and to excellence in educational theatre. It is the most prestigious regional award given by KCACTF and is considered one of the great honors of theatre education.

Plays written by Benjamin are as follows: Seeing the Obvious (1998), Roadblock (2002), It Starts Now (2012), The Performance Project ’13 (2013), Las Memorias ’13 (2013), A Bus Stop Home (2013), Turnabout is a Fair Play (2013), The Performance Project ’14 (2014), Gigglemug (2014), The Performance Project ’15 (2015), Las Memorias ’15 (2015), Las Memorias ’16 (2016), The Valley (2016) The Lion and Lamb (2016), Las Memorias '17 (2017), Memoria de Oaxaca (2017), Up Chimacum Creek (2018), VOUCHer (2018), The Good Soldier (2018), Sour Mash (2019),  Aristophanes v. Euripides: Dawn of Poetic Justice (2020), and DRIFTLESS: An Enemy of the People (2026). Benjamin’s most recent shows directed include Antigone (2025, Viterbo) Sucia: A Cinderella Story for the Modern Age (2021, UCM), An Illiad (2016, Moscow Art Theatre, Too), God of Carnage (2017, Moscow Art Theatre, Too) She Kills Monsters (2017, WSU – 2023 Viterbo), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (2015, WSU ), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (2014, WSU – 2024, Viterbo) What the Butler Saw (2013, WSU),