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 yea ...

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. Tho ...

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 Un ...

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 Un ...

, 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, 11,075 ...

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 un ...

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 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 Nike, Inc. ( or ) is a ...

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 ...

, and a month later Berdahl agreed to end efforts to prevent certification by the Oregon Employment Relations Board. Michael R. Gottfredson 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