Daniel Berg (educator)


Daniel Berg is a scientist, educator and was the fifteenth president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
He was born on June 1, 1929 in New York City. In 1946, he graduated from Stuyvesant High School and in 1950 graduated from City College of New York with a B.S. in physics and chemistry. He earned M.S. and P.h. D. degrees in physical chemistry from Yale University in 1951 and 1953 respectively. From 1953-1977, he worked at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, ultimately as technical director.
In 1977, he joined Carnegie Mellon University as dean of the Mellon College of Science. In 1981, he became co-provost, along with Richard L. Van Horn.

Education

In 1983, he was appointed vice president of academic affairs and provost of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Career

In 1984, he was named acting president on the death of the previous president, George Low, and became president of Rensselaer in 1985. He served as president until 1987, and he stayed on at RPI as the Institute Professor of Science and Technology. His research interests include "understanding the relationship of technology and the service sector," as well as "management of technological organization, innovation, policy, manufacturing strategy, robotics, policy issues of research and development in the service sector."
In 1947, he received the Belden Medal for mathematics as an undergraduate at City College of New York. In 1983, he received the Wilbur Cross Medal from the Association of Yale Alumni, awarded to Yale graduate school alumni who have "distinguished achievements in scholarship, teaching, academic administration, and public service." In 2007, he received the Engineering Management Educator of the Year award from the IEEE Engineering Management Society. The award recognizes "outstanding education or education administration contributions to the field of engineering management or a closely related discipline."
He is also a member of Tau Beta Pi, Phi Beta Kappa, the National Academy of Engineering, and is a fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the New York Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.