Spring 2021

NSPE Today
Bernard Berson, P.E., F.NSPE, L.S.

September 12, 1934 – March 17, 2021

During his nearly 50 years as a practicing professional engineer, Bernie Berson built a civil engineering and surveying business, provided forensic engineering expertise in legal proceedings, and spent innumerable hours as a self-described “perpetual volunteer” for the profession.

Berson, whose path led to the NSPE presidency in 2007–08, died on March 17 at the age of 86.

Born and raised in Meriden, Connecticut, Berson earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Connecticut in 1957, his first PE license in 1963, and a master’s degree in civil engineering from the Newark College of Engineering in 1966. But his road to engineering wasn’t direct.

In 2007, recalling his undergraduate days for the University of Connecticut’s Engineering News, Berson said that affording the $75 per semester for fees plus another $75 for lodging was difficult. The freshman in the School of Business Administration, however, was determined to make some money during the summer. Through the state employment agency, he found a job in construction paying “the reasonably good rate” of $1.10 per hour. “When I reported for work, I was befuddled when I was handed a strange object that I soon came to know was a plumb bob. I had been hired by a civil engineer and land surveyor in Wallingford.”

The experience changed his education and career path. “I soon understood what we were doing and was fascinated by the manner in which stakes set by our crew became the guidance for construction of roads, curbs, pipelines and buildings,” he said, and decided to change his major to civil engineering. “I could not have been more fortunate.”

In 1997, he was named a UConn Distinguished Engineering Alumnus.

During his career, Berson worked for the City of Los Angeles Storm Drain Division; served four years as a commissioned officer in the US Coast & Geodetic Survey; spent nearly 30 years as the founder, owner, and operator of Berson, Ackermann & Associates Inc., a New Jersey civil engineering and land surveying firm; and provided forensic engineering and surveying consulting services.

Berson joined NSPE and the New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers in 1967. But his uninterrupted service to the Society as the perpetual volunteer began in July 1987, he said, when he became secretary of the New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers.

As NSPE president, Berson wrote that his volunteerism in the profession was inspired by the words of President Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”

Taking those words to heart, Berson served on numerous NJSPE committees and guided the organization as president in 1990–91. At the national level, he was particularly active in NSPE’s Professional Engineers in Private Practice, serving as PEPP chair in 2001–02 and dedicating untold hours to editing the PEPP Talk newsletter.

Among the recognitions he received for his volunteerism were the PEPP Award (1995), the NJSPE Distinguished Engineer award (1995), and NSPE’s Distinguished Service Award (1996).

Preparing the future leaders of the profession was also one of Berson’s passions. Not only did he chair PEPP’s Mentoring Task Force and create the Young Engineers Advisory Council, but he also turned his wealth of experience into a book. Working with coauthor Doug Benner, P.E., F.NSPE, he published Career Success in Engineering: A Guide for Students and New Professionals in 2007.

As a mentor, Berson said he most wanted young engineers to appreciate that engineering is a profession, not a job. “It’s a duty, an obligation to serve the public. Respect that, respect what you are,” he said. “You had the good fortune to get where you are, now you have a duty to this world of ours to use your skill and knowledge in a manner that contributes.”

Contributing to the engineering profession and serving the public as a professional engineer were plainly among his greatest passions. When asked the worst thing about engineering, his answer made it clear: “Having to stop doing it,” he said. “The thought that a career will come to an end is painful.”

Bernie Berson’s family is setting up a scholarship fund at the University of Connecticut for aspiring women in engineering. Details will be shared when they are available.