In addition to his role as chief administrator of the Texas A&M Engineering Program, Dr. Bennett is a nationally recognized authority in homeland security. He was selected by then Governor George W. Bush, to administer the Homeland Security Grant Program for the State of Texas. He was recently appointed to the FEMA National Advisory Council, in the area of Emergency Management, and is the founding chairman of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, a national consortium of universities and federal facilities providing technical assistance to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He is Executive Director of the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center and is the founder of the elite national urban search and rescue team, Texas Task Force I, which he led in the recovery effort at the World Trade Center. He has served on several governmental blue ribbon panels related to terrorism policy, and is a speaker at numerous national conferences. He is a member of the ECO Terrorism Committee of the National Association of Universities and Land Grant Colleges and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Executive Working Group for the System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders Program.
He is a recognized scholar and leader in the field of industrial engineering. He is known for his research in economic quality control and defense logistics. He is an elected Fellow of the Society of Logistics Engineers and the Institute of Industrial Engineers and has received numerous awards and honors including two Distinguished Educator awards: the Eccles Medal and the Albert G. Holzman Award. He is a registered professional engineer and serves on the board of advisors of several organizations and corporations including a Governor's appointment to the Texas Board of Professional Engineers. He is listed in several Who's Who citations.