Robert Benson studied at the University of Madrid in 1965 and was a Boalt Hall/Ford Foundation International Legal Studies Fellow in Brazil (1969), studying the delivery of legal aid to slum dwellers. Before joining the Loyola faculty in 1973, he worked in the Connecticut Department of Community Affairs and was an associate attorney with Cox, Langford & Brown in Washington DC. Benson has given pro bono legal advice to a variety of environmental and human rights organizations and was the founder of Loyola's Summer Program in Central America.