Benjamin Piatt Runkle was an American military officer, Episcopal priest, and Freemason, who is noted as being one of the seven founders of Sigma Chi fraternity. Prior to joining the clergy, he served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He served as Chief Superintendent of Freedmen's Affairs in Kentucky, and was plaintiff in the Supreme Court case Runkle v. United States. Runkle also twice served as trustee of Miami University.

Sigma Chi (ΣΧ) International Fraternity is one of the largest of North American social fraternities. The fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated over 350,000 members. The fraternity was founded on June 28, 1855, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, by members who split from the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.