Ragnar Benson*
Class of 1969
- Chairman Ragnar Benson, Inc.
Believe in yourself and be true to your beliefs.
Ragnar Benson was born in 1899 on a farm in southern Sweden. By the age of 12, he had immigrated to the United States. Determined to be successful, Benson chose a career in the hardest work he could find, bricklaying.
Working up from a $5-a-week apprenticeship, Benson launched out on his own as a masonry contractor in 1920 before founding Ragnar Benson, Inc., a large Midwestern construction company, in 1922. The company became one of Chicago's top builders, and erected many Fortune 500 landmark buildings.