Herb Benenson, Cal's associate athletic director for communications and a fixture of the athletic department for the past 32 years, has announced his retirement, effective May 27.

Benenson has been Cal's lead spokesperson and overseen the department's athletic communications office for the past 15 years. He began at Cal in 1990 as the department's women's sports information director and went on to become the Bears' men's basketball communications contact for 16 years. He began supervising Cal's athletic communications office in 2007.

Benenson has been at Cal for 58 national championships while working with 90 head coaches and seven athletic directors.

"It's difficult to put into words what Herb has meant to Cal Athletics for the past 32 years," Cal director of athletics Jim Knowlton said. "He has simply been a rock for our department, helping us smoothly navigate the good times and the challenging ones. We will miss his trusted leadership and loyalty, and the tremendous positive effect he has had on so many throughout his time at Cal."

Benenson has worked directly with and promoted some of the most well-known and successful student-athletes in Cal history. He was there for Jason Kidd's rise to stardom in 1992-94 and helped Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin navigate an avalanche of media attention when she arrived on campus in 2013. He was there when Aaron Rodgers rose to prominence with the Cal football team in 2004.

"Herb was the first person I met when I visited Cal. He was not only knowledgeable about the university and team, but a wonderful representative of the greater Cal community," said former Cal men's basketball coach Ben Braun, who served in that role from 1996-2008. "I always considered him a member of our staff. We shared many high moments together. He will always be one of the great Golden Bears."

Benenson has served as the editor for the Cal Sports Quarterly magazine and is the chair of the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame Selection Committee. He was honored with a 25-year special award by CoSIDA in 2016.

"It has been an honor and a privilege to be a part of this Cal family for so many years," Benenson said. "While so much focus is on the wins and losses, it is the people – student-athletes, coaches, staff and alumni – who make Cal Athletics such a great place to be. I arrived in Berkeley in 1990 believing this was my next job, and now I retire an incredible 32 years later considering it home."

Benenson has worked with and promoted multiple Olympians, All-Americans and national champions during his time at Cal. He has worked directly with several sports on campus and has been the primary communications contact for women's swimming since Franklin's arrival, promoting the Bears' NCAA championship in 2015.

"Having been a coach at Cal for 30 years, I have witnessed firsthand the diversity and impact of Herb's expertise to our department and the greater campus," Cal head women's swimming and diving coach Teri McKeever said. "His ability to adapt, grow and evolve has been inspiring, and has had a significant effect not only on me, but the entire women's swimming and diving program."

Benenson has also regularly collaborated with others across UC Berkeley's campus on projects and issues, earning respect and admiration not only as a representative of the athletic department, but the entire institution.

"Herb was always the calm center of any given storm, a mature voice of reason, and a stickler for getting the details right," UC Berkeley assistant vice chancellor for executive communications Dan Mogulof said. "Through thick and thin, he epitomized professionalism, decency, collegiality, honesty and acumen. Herb was always, every day, everything this university needed and could have hoped for from someone in his position."