LANSING – Harry Truman was President. G. Mennen Williams was sworn in as Michigan’s Governor. And Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer was being sung for the first time.

The year was 1949 and Benjamin E.S. Hamilton began his employment with the State of Michigan as a teacher at the Boys Training School in Lansing. This month, Hamilton will be retiring after 56 years of public service – the longest-serving state employee in Michigan history.

"I figured now is as good a time as any," the 84-year-old Lansing resident said with a grin.

"Dedicated employees like Ben Hamilton are the heart and soul of state government," said Governor Jennifer M. Granholm. "They work tirelessly to serve the citizens of Michigan with professionalism, respect, and purpose. In Ben Hamilton’s case, it’s been a 56-year engagement of devotion to public education in Michigan. We can’t ask much more of any person."

Hamilton was honored at today’s monthly State Board of Education meeting. His co-workers will be celebrating his illustrious commitment to public education at a reception on March 18.

After eight years at the Boy’s Training School, Hamilton transferred to the Michigan Department of Public Instruction (now the Michigan Department of Education), where he has served in various capacities as an educational consultant in preschool/nursery education; elementary education; conservation education; compensatory education; and early childhood education.

"Ben has worked here through 14 State Superintendents, seven Governors, and 11 U.S. Presidents," said State Board of Education President Kathleen N. Straus. "He has witnessed the evolution of public education from its local roots through to state and federal support and oversight.

"For years a state and national leader in early childhood development and education, Ben has offered his lifetime of commitment and service to not only the State but the countless school children that benefited from his efforts," Straus added. "We all appreciate and thank him for his service and wish him well in his well-earned retirement."

Hamilton has served in leadership positions on a number of state and national professional groups, including: the Michigan Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development; Phi Delta Kappa; the Association for Childhood Education International; the Association of Humanistic Psychology; and the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health. He was one of the founders of the Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children.

Born in Banff, Alberta, Canada, he moved with his family to Dearborn in 1924. He attended Garden City schools through the 10th grade, and then Dearborn Fordson for 11th and 12th grades. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1942-46, on the Frigate USS Gulfport escorting convoys in the Mid-Atlantic, and then as a weather radar ship in the North Pacific.

Upon his return from duty during World War II, Hamilton enrolled in the School of Education at Western Michigan College. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree and a teaching certificate in Special Education in 1949. It was at Western where Hamilton met Janet Sheard of Fennville, who was studying to be a librarian. This September, they will celebrate their 56th wedding anniversary. The Hamiltons have two sons: James, an attorney; and William, a budget analyst with the House Fiscal Agency.

Michigan Department of Education
http://www.michigan.gov/mde/