Benedictine names Michael King 2026 Distinguished Educator of the Year

Benedictine College named Michael King its 2026 Distinguished Educator of the Year, putting the spotlight on a business-school leader whose work has helped push the School of Business past 500 undergraduate students and deepen Atchison’s talent pipeline.

The college made the announcement April 30 during its annual Academic Honors Convocation, a campuswide event that also recognized students with grade-point averages of at least 3.5 and honored departmental award winners. Benedictine said the Distinguished Educator of the Year is its highest faculty honor and has been given for more than 30 years, with students, faculty and staff all taking part in the nomination process.

King serves as associate professor and chair of Benedictine’s School of Business and as director of the School of Business and Graduate Business Programs. Provost and Academic Dean Kimberly Shankman said he has gone above and beyond for students and helped expand the program into one of the college’s most visible academic pipelines. For Atchison, that matters well beyond campus. A larger and stronger business school can shape who interns with local employers, who builds professional connections in town and which graduates decide to stay in the region after Commencement.

The School of Business is housed in the Ferrell Academic Center overlooking the Missouri River, and Benedictine says the program is designed to prepare students for successful careers in traditional business fields and for management and executive roles. The school offers five distinct majors, and selected undergraduates can take graduate-level classes for undergraduate and graduate credit, with some students able to finish an MBA in one year instead of two.

King’s background reflects the wide reach of that mission. His faculty profile lists degrees from Benedictine College, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Thunderbird School of Global Management and Fort Hays State University. Before returning to Atchison, he served as president of the College of Saints John Fisher & Thomas More in Fort Worth, Texas, and also worked in start-up businesses, a small investment banking firm and on the professional staff of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee.

Benedictine said in 2022 that it generates more than $116.4 million in annual economic impact, including nearly $60 million in Atchison, a reminder that the college’s academic reputation is tied to the city’s broader economy. The school also says students take part in mission and service projects that help build up the community. King’s recognition, then, reaches past a campus award. It points to the faculty leadership shaping the graduates, internships and business relationships that keep Benedictine at the center of Atchison’s future.