Gift Fortifies Berger PI/PS Fellows Program and Builds a Lasting Community
A new $5.75 million commitment from the Dale and Max Berger Family Foundation will strengthen the Max Berger ’71 Public Interest/Public Service Fellows Program and deepen engagement among the growing community of alumni fellows.
The Dale and Max Berger Family Foundation—which endowed Columbia Law School’s Max Berger ’71 Public Interest/Public Service Fellows Program in 2021—has committed an additional $5.75 million to further endow the existing Berger Fellows Program and establish a new Max Berger ’71 Alumni Fellows Program.
“Max’s leadership and generosity are an inspiration, and he has been an extraordinary partner to Columbia Law School. This remarkable gift advances Max’s visionary commitment to supporting Columbia Law students who are passionate about pursuing careers in public interest, human rights, and government,” says Daniel Abebe, Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law. “The newly established Alumni Fellows Program, in particular, is a point of great pride for the Law School, and will further strengthen the community of Berger Fellows and deepen its collective impact in society for generations to come.”
The new alumni initiative will provide graduates of the Berger Fellows Program in the early and mid stages of their careers with opportunities to mentor current fellows and network with one another. The Alumni Fellows Program will also allow alumni to take advantage of professional development and training opportunities that will ensure their long-term, continued impact in the public sector.
“When the Berger Fellows Program was created, my hope was to give dedicated students the support and freedom to pursue careers in public interest and public service,” says Berger, who created his family’s foundation with his wife, Dale. “To see what they have gone on to accomplish has been nothing short of extraordinary, and for the next chapter, we want all Berger Fellows to have a lifelong community they can turn to for mentorship, professional guidance, and inspiration, and to be able to give back to those who follow them.”
The Berger Fellows Program launched in 2019 and is overseen by the Law School’s Office of Public Interest/Public Service Law and Careers (PI/PS Office). The PI/PS Office also provides a wide range of professional development, career support, counseling, and community resources for all Columbia Law students interested in public service, including as a career path and as a pro bono component of private practice. Roughly 30 students from each J.D. class participate in the three-year Berger Fellows Program, for a total of 90 students at any given time.
“The program helps us to attract the most ambitious and talented public interest students,” says Erica Smock ’95, dean for the PI/PS Office. “Max believes in the power of our approach and in the work the Berger Fellows are doing out in the world. He has a keen appreciation for the challenges that public interest and public service lawyers face and the potential impact they can have in shaping a more just future for all.”
The Bergers have a long history of supporting Columbia Law School’s public interest programs. The couple also endowed the Dale and Max Berger Public Interest Law Fellowship, which awards graduates working in the public sector with enhanced loan repayment benefits for five years after graduation, giving recipients more support to “stay the course” in public interest careers.
In addition to gifts through his foundation, Berger and his firm, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann, have contributed over $11 million in support of public interest students, graduates, and related programming at the Law School, including the creation of the Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann Public Interest Law Fellowship in 1998.
Berger, who celebrated his 55th reunion this year, is a member of the Dean’s Council and previously served on the Board of Visitors. In 2011, he received the Law School’s highest honor, the Medal for Excellence. Berger is also a member of the Public Interest/Public Service Council, a group of high-level alumni who provide support and advice to the Law School’s students and young alumni. In addition to his many contributions to the Law School, he is chairman emeritus of the Baruch College Fund Board of Trustees, and he and Dale have been actively involved in the Andrew Goodman Foundation, Her Justice, and Women for Women International, among many other charitable endeavors.