Allen Berger ’57, G’66 has always been a strong proponent of the written word—and of sharing the joys of reading with others. As a student at Utica College, he wrote poems and short stories, and upon graduation landed a job as a reporter for a newspaper in Rome, New York. After a stint in the U.S. Army, and serving as a reporter/photographer for a newspaper in Virginia, he earned a master’s degree from Albany State Teachers College and began his teaching career in Utica and Rochester. For several years, he taught high school English and reading, then was offered the opportunity to earn a doctorate in education from Syracuse University’s School of Education.
“I have such fond memories of Syracuse University,” says the Utica native, whose parents, Henry and Goldie Berger, owned a tailor shop and dry cleaner there. “I especially remember the professors at SU—William Sheldon, Margaret Early, Frank Greene, Leonard Braam, and Harold Herber. There must have been 25 or 35 doctoral students at the time who were attracted by these extraordinary teachers. People came from everywhere to learn from them.”
Honoring Parents with an SU Gift
To honor his parents, Berger recently established the Dr. Allen Berger Endowed Scholarship at Syracuse University that will be funded through a planned gift. The scholarship will be used to provide financial assistance to graduate students enrolled in the School of Education, with preference given to students who wish to develop their expertise in literacy education.
The endowment caps Berger’s long career devoted to literacy, having served as a tenured faculty member at Southern Illinois University, the University of Alberta, the University of Pittsburgh, and Miami University (Ohio), where he was the Heckert Professor of Reading and Writing for 18 years. While there, he began an inner-city program called Teens for Literacy, which has been used in more than 100 schools throughout the United States. He is the author of more than 400 articles and chapters on reading and writing education, as well as co-author and co-editor of 10 books. A recipient of the Laureate Award from the College Reading Association, he is a Fellow in the National Conference on Research in Language and Literacy. Now retired, Berger makes his home in Savannah, Georgia, where he has served as chair of the board of trustees of the Live Oak Public Libraries.
His emotional attachment to Syracuse University convinced him to establish the scholarship. “Syracuse University changed my life,” he says. “When I was considering endowing a scholarship, I thought about the different places where I worked, and decided I would give to Syracuse. It has always had a wonderful reputation, and I feel confident that the money will be used for research and the development of reading programs, and ways of informing the public and policy makers on trends in literacy education.”
Berger encourages others who may be considering funding scholarships at Syracuse University to do so. “We all need to help each other out to make a better world,” he says. “I was very fortunate to have a graduate assistant job when I was at Syracuse, and that was wonderful. I want someone else to be able to have the same experience.”