Samuel Edison Benton III participated in the Hooding and Recognition Ceremony for the Duke University School of Nursing on May 13, 2018. Samuel graduated from the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program with specialization in the nurse anesthesia program on Aug. 18, 2018.  The Duke DNP with specialization in nurse anesthesia is a 36-month, 83-credit, full-time, on-campus program. The curriculum is an integration of DNP, APRN and nurse anesthesia specialty courses. The program culminates in completion of a capstone project addressing a process improvement/quality improvement project affecting populations of patients, health care organizations, and health care systems in a clinical setting. His DNP Scholarly Project title was: Evaluating the Usability of an Electronic IPASS Postoperative Handoff Form. Samuel received his Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Samuel is the grandson of Donald and Geraldine Holshouser from Salisbury. His proud parents are Samuel E. Benton Jr. and Joyce Holshouser Benton from McDonough, Ga. He is married to Cristina Santos Benton who has completed a doctorate program in pharmacy research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has two children, Samuel IV and Maya Grey. He has accepted a CRNA position at Duke University Hospital.