Charles Beneke grew up in Suffolk, Virginia and is a graduate of Woodberry Forest School in Orange, Virginia. He earned a B.A. in Art and Psychology from Kenyon College in 1990. After working in book cover design in New York City for four years, he attended The University of Connecticut where he received his Masters in Fine Arts in Printmaking and Mixed-media in 1996. Beneke was an assistant professor of art at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming from 1997 to 2001 where he taught Foundations. He is a professor of art at The University of Akron Myers School of Art at in Akron, Ohio. He currently serves as the Associate DeanÑAcademics of the Graduate School at The University of Akron. Beneke is the awards coordinator for the Southern Graphics Council International. He was the 2008-10 president of the Mid America Print Council. His work in a broad range of print media, painting, new media, and installation addresses climate change, urging the viewer to confront his/her role in the fragile state of the world environment.