Robert Max Berdahl (born March 15, 1937) is a retired American college and university administrator.
Biography
Born in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...
, Berdahl received a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
from
Augustana College in 1959. Additionally, he obtained a
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...
from the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
in 1961. He would later follow
Otto Pflanze to the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...
where he received his doctorate in 1965, with a dissertation on the Prussian Conservative Party during German unification circa 1870.
Berdahl was an assistant professor of history at the
University of Massachusetts
The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medical ...
from 1965 to 1967.
[ From 1967 to 1986, Berdahl was a history professor at the University of Oregon. In addition to his duties as professor, he served as dean of the university's College of Arts and Sciences from 1981 to 1986. Later on, Berdahl would go on to serve as vice chancellor for academic affairs at the ]University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
, from 1986 to 1993.
He was president of University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...
from 1993 to 1997 and later chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
from 1997 to 2004. He served as president of the Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ( ...
from May 2006 to June 2011. In addition, he currently serves on the Board of Directors of Lam Research Corporation.
In December 2011, the Oregon State Board of Higher Education
The Oregon State Board of Higher Education was the statutory governing board for the Oregon University System from 1909 to 2015. The board was composed of eleven members appointed by the Governor of Oregon and confirmed by the Oregon State Senate ...
asked Berdahl to serve as the president of the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
on an interim basis. The presidency of the University of Oregon had recently been vacated by Richard Lariviere following his early termination by the state board. Three months into Berdahl's presidency the faculty voted to form a union affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the second largest teacher's labor union in America (the largest being the National Education Association). The union was founded in Chicago. John Dewey and Margaret Haley were founders.
About 60 per ...
and American Association of University Professors
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership includes over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations.
The AAUP's stated mission is ...
, and a month later Berdahl agreed to end efforts to prevent certification by the Oregon Employment Relations Board. Michael R. Gottfredson
Michael Ryan Gottfredson (born January 16, 1951) is the former President of the University of Oregon, serving from August 1, 2012 to August 6, 2014.
Biography
He has a B.A from the University of California, Davis, a M.A. and a Ph.D. from the Stat ...
succeeded Berdahl effective August 1, 2012.
Works
* "New Thoughts on German Nationalism," ''The American Historical Review'' Vol. 77, No. 1, February 1972
* "Conservative Politics and Aristocratic Landholders in Bismarckian Germany," ''The Journal of Modern History'' Vol. 44, No. 1, March 1972
* "The ''Stände'' and the Origins of Conservatism in Prussia," ''Eighteenth-Century Studies'' Vol. 6, No. 3, Spring 1973
* ''The Politics of the Prussian Nobility: The Development of a Conservative Ideology, 1770-1848'' (Princeton University Press, January 1989)
References
External links
Official website of the president of the University of Oregon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berdahl, Robert M.
1937 births
Living people
20th-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
Augustana University alumni
Leaders of the University of California, Berkeley
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Writers from Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Presidents of the University of Texas at Austin
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign people
University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni
Presidents of the University of Oregon
University of Massachusetts faculty
20th-century American male writers
Historians from California
Presidents of the Association of American Universities