Chief Ethics Officer & Special Projects
Mr. Benz was named Chief Ethics Officer & Special Projects in August 2022, after previously serving as Chief Audit and Ethics Officer (CAO). He has served as Metra’s Ethics Officer since 2013 and previously served as an Associate General Counsel.
Mr. Benz came to Metra in 2013 from the Office of Inspector General for the Agencies of the Illinois Governor, where he had served as assistant inspector general for the Regional Transit Board Division since 2010. Prior to 2010, he worked as an attorney in Washington, D.C., for a private law firm and for the U.S. Treasury Department’s Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
Mr. Benz received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Arizona in December 1994 and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Indiana University - Bloomington School of Law in 2000. He served as a judicial clerk for the Hon. Joe Billy McDade from 2001 to 2003. He also was a Peace Corps volunteer in Belize from 1995 to 1997. Mr. Benz also completed Northwestern University’s School of Professional Studies Post Baccalaureate Certificate program for accounting and finance and is also a certified Compliance and Ethics Professional.
