Mandell "Bill" Berman (1917–2016) was the businessman (housing construction industry) and philanthropist behind the Mandell L. and Madeleine H. Berman Foundation,McGinity, Keren
Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry Lifetime Achievement Award Announcement
December 19, 2010 which supports

Jewish education Jewish education (, ''Chinuch'') is the transmission of the tenets, principles, and religious laws of Judaism. Jews value education, and the value of education is strongly embedded in Jewish culture. Judaism places a heavy emphasis on Torah ...

, and research and study of the contemporary American Jewish community. His philanthropic focus was on the storage, dissemination, and preservation of Jewish data, as well as Jewish education and special education.A Philanthropist Crunches The Numbers
Tamar Snyder, New York Jewish Week, November 25, 2009

Biography

Berman was born (1917) and grew up in Detroit, Michigan, one of four siblings. His mother was from Toledo, OH, descended of Eastern European Jewish immigrants. His father immigrated from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

at a young age, and with a grade school education, served in the American Army as an officer and worked as a successful businessman. Berman was raised in a religiously traditional home but was allowed to spend money and travel on

shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

to get to Hebrew school and religious services. He married Madge, née Madeleine Brodie, in 1950. They have two children and three grandchildren.Speech
on reception of th
Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry
s first Berman award, December 19, 2011Interview with Mandell Berman
Detroit Jewish Spirit: the Aish Detroit Community Magazine, Fall 2008

Education

Berman attended Detroit Central High School and Shaarey Tzedek High School. He briefly attended the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, but then completed his undergraduate studies at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1940 graduating Magna Cum Laude, and graduated Harvard Business School in 1942. In 2011, he received an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI.

Career

Past: * President: Bert L. Smokler & Company (1946–1975), Dreyfus Development Corporation (1969-19872), South Eastern Michigan Builders Association * Partner: Bert L. Smokler & Company (1946–1975) * Chairman of the Skillman Foundation * Chairman: Board of Trustees of the Michigan State Housing Finance Authority, Supervisory Board of Euroad * Board member: Dreyfus Corporation (NYSE), Guardian Industries (NYSE), Lennar Corporation (NYSE) Berman also served 4 years in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, including a posting in Okinawa.

Philanthropic work

Selected supported projects

* The Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ Stanford Universitybr>(BJPA)

The North American Jewish Data Bank
(NAJDB)
The Inter Agency Task Force on Israeli-Arab Issues
(IATF)
The Jewish Historical Society of Michigan

The Berman Center
of the Jewish Educational Service of North America (JESNA) (of which he was also the co-founder) * The Mandell Berman Fellowship Program at

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

'
Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies
* Th
Mandell L. Berman Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Contemporary American Jewish Life at the Frankel Center at the University of Michigan
.
Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute
��s Center for Research on Disabilities' Mandell Berman Fund for Research on Children with Disabilities, 1999. * Th
1990 and 2000–2001 National Jewish Population Surveys
* The 2009 study on Jewish mobility. * Berman fellowship (since 2006) at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America#William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education">William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education.
Jewish Communal Leadership Program
at the

's School of Social Work * Mandell L. Berman Center (1988) and Berman Fellowships (since 1997), at the * The Mandell L. and Madeleine H. Berman Award for Outstanding Professional Service to the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and its agencies. * The Detroit Symphony Orchestra * The Berman Center for the Performing Arts (2011) at the Jewish Community Center, Detroit * Michigan Humane Society – The Berman Center for Animal Care in Westland * The Berman Center for Jewish Education at Congregation Shaarey Zedek * and many more, both in and outside of the Jewish community

Positions held

* President: Council of Jewish Federations (now the

Jewish Federations of North America The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), formerly the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is an American Jewish umbrella organization for the Jewish Federations system, representing over 350 independent Jewish communities across North Ameri ...

) (1987–1990), Executive Committee of the Metropolitan Detroit Jewish Welfare Federation, United Hebrew Schools of Detroit (1962–1995) * Chairman:

JESNA JESNA (Jewish Education Service of North America) is the Jewish federation system's educational coordinating, planning, and development agency. A national, non-profit agency, it was created in 1981. It closed in 2013. Role Over the past twenty ...

(Jewish Education Service of North America) Berman Research and Evaluation Center, Volunteer and Professional Leadership Biographies, National Jewish Population Survey 2000–01 AAJE (predecessor of

), National Jewish Population Survey, Board of Overseers and Executive Committee of the Board of Overseers of the JCPA (

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs The Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA), formerly the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), is an Israeli think tank specializing in public diplomacy and foreign policy founded in 1976. JCPA publishes the biennial jo ...

), Skillman Foundation, Executive Committee of the Metropolitan Detroit Jewish Welfare Federation, United Hebrew Schools of Detroit * Honorary chairman: University of Michigan Hillel,

(Jewish Education Service of North America) * Founder: Metropolitan Detroit Jewish Welfare Federation, United Hebrew Schools (1959–1962), Jewish Historical Society of Michigan (1969) * Member of the Board: Overseers of the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education (since 1996),

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Advert Where and how does this article resemble an WP:SOAP, advert and how should it be improved? See: Wikipedia:Spam (you might trthe Teahouseif you have questions). American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a J ...

, United Israel Appeal, the

Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

, Skillman Foundation, World Zionist Education Authority,

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

, Executive Committee of the Metropolitan Detroit Jewish Welfare Federation, HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society),Confronting the Future of the Jewish People
Iggeret Newsletter, June 1995 JDC (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee), UIA (United Israel Appeal) * Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

Awards

Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry The Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry (ASSJ) is a cross-disciplinary organization of individuals whose research concerns the Jewish people throughout the world, founded in 1971. Purpose The ASSJ comprises primarily academics, ...

first Lifetime Achievement award for his support of the study of the North American Jewish community, December 19, 2010.Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry Lifetime Achievement Award
December 19, 2010
Jewish Historical Society of Michigan
Leonard N. Simons History Award, 2009Press Release

Jewish Historical Society of Michigan
May 5, 2009. * Mesorah Award for Outstanding Leadership in Jewish Education,

(Jewish Education Service of North America), 1992History of the Berman Center
, JESNA
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
Butzel Award, 1978Jewish Foundation of Metropolitan Detroi
Annual Report 2003-2004
* Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berman, Bill 1917 births 2016 deaths University of Michigan alumni Harvard Business School alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Businesspeople from Detroit Harvard College alumni 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists 21st-century American Jews