kenneth robert tuff "ken" baumann (born august 8, 1989) is an american actor, writer, publisher and book designer. for ten years, he worked in theater, film and television, becoming most known for playing ben boykewich on "the secret life of the american teenager". he is the author of the novels "solip", "say, cut, map", and "the country", as well as the nonfiction books "earthbound" and "eat the flowers", as well as various essays, short stories and poems. he owns and operates sator press, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit publishing company, was the series designer for boss fight books and co-published "no colony", a literary journal, with blake butler. he is a co-founder of the ios app sweetspot, and an angel investor in the learning platform memrise. he currently works in st. john's college in santa fe, new mexico.