Alan Benson was born into a nominally Protestant family in Northern Ireland that moved to Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, when he was four. When he was eleven, Benson was introduced to the Gospel by a BJU graduate. In 1992, Benson himself graduated from BJU as a Bible major. He later earned an MMin from BJU in 2009, an MDiv from Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary in 2011, and a DMin in Expository Preaching from BJU in 2020. For 25 years, he served as a senior pastor in Florida, North Carolina, and Illinois. He returned to BJU in 2018, and following the resignation of Steve Pettit in 2023, the Board of Trustees named him acting CEO. After the nomination of Josh Crockett to the role of president in 2024, Benson moved into a role outside the university as a business development executive.