News Release
Award-Winning Author, Professor to Give Devotional Jan. 17
Jeff Benedict, award-winning author and distinguished professor of writing and mass media at Southern Virginia University, will give a devotional address on Friday, Jan. 17, at 11 a.m. in the Stoddard Center.
Benedict published his first book, “Pros and Cons: The Criminals Who Play in the NFL,” during his first year of law school. Since then, he has dedicated his career to investigative journalism. His books include “Little Pink House,” “How to Build a Business Warren Buffet Would Buy,” “The Mormon Way of Doing Business: How Seven Western Boys Reached the Top of Corporate America,” “Out of Bounds: Inside the NBA’s Culture of Rape, Violence and Crime,” “No Bone Unturned: The Adventures of a Top Smithsonian Forensic Scientist and the Legal Battle for America’s Oldest Skeletons,” “Without Reservation: How a Controversial Indian Tribe Rose to Power and Built the World’s Largest Casino,” and “Poisoned: The True Story of the Deadly E. Coli Outbreak That Changed the Way Americans Eat.”
In 2013, he published “The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football,” an investigation into the college football industry, and “My Name Used to Be Mohammed,” a collaborative effort with Tito Momen, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity and was imprisoned for 15 years because of his faith.
Benedict is also a regular contributor to the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Deseret News, and Sports Illustrated. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Eastern Connecticut State University in 1991 and a master’s degree in political science from Northeastern University in 1995. He began teaching at Southern Virginia in 2007, and currently owns a farm in Rockbridge County where he lives with his wife, Lydia, and four children.
Community members and Southern Virginia faculty, staff and students are invited to hear forum and devotional speakers each Friday morning at 11 a.m. in the Stoddard Center. Recordings of past forum and devotional speeches may be accessed online.