^{Walter Benesch has been a Mason for over to 50 years,}

^{active in both York and Scottish Rites. Walter}

^{continues to be an active member of various Masonic}

^{bodies in the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia.}

^{He obtained the 33o in 2019, is a holder of Order of the}

^{Purple Cross of the York Rite and is active in SCRICF}

^{College in the District of Columbia.}

^{Currently he is the Dean of the Andrea Solomon}

^{College of Philosophy in the DC Scottish Rite. He is a}

^{trustee of various other Masonic bodies. Brother}

^{Benesch is a Past President of the Maryland Masonic}

^{Research Society and holder of their Exceptional}

^{Service Award. Walter was president of the George}

^{Washington Masonic Stamp Club and has published}

^{numerous Masonic articles. Has given over 60 side}

^{presentations and additional talks. Has been a speaker}

^{for major Masonic research bodies both locally and}

^{internationally. He the holder of two of the highly regarded Distinguished Toastmaster Award from}

^{Toastmasters International. He is also the author of several books which can be found on his web}

^{page: walterpbenesch.com.}

^{With a master's degree in anthropology he has maintained interests in archeology,}

^{paleoanthropology and esoteric sciences as found around the world. His MSSS (MS in Social}

^{Services) triggered his interest in psychology, thanatology, and society. He has taken many}

^{additional non-credit undergraduate courses on a huge variety of subjects and supplements his}

^{studies with constant reading of non-fiction books and periodicals. Walter has studied Kabbalah,}

^{originally with Dr. Michael Hattwick back in the 1990's then with Kirk MacNulty. Over the past}

^{decade or more with Maggy Whitehouse.}

^{Professionally he started out as a youth worker in NYC then as a social worker in the District of}

^{Columbia, Department of Human Services. He moved as a civilian in the Pentagon on various}

^{projects in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the transferred and retired from the Department of}

^{Homeland Security as a senior program manager and program professional instructor. He has two}

^{daughters, one an emergency room MD in California, the other is a fashion designer in Australia. He}

^{is currently retired and living with the love of his life, his second wife, Charlene Gatewood in}

^{Mitchellville, Maryland.}