During his tenure, Berg established the University's Community and Preventive Medicine program as a national leader. The Medical Center's decision to adopt community health as one of its four missions can be directly traced to him.
"Bob Berg's life was filled with many achievements," says Thomas Pearson, Albert D. Kaiser Professor and chair of the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine. "Most of all, I will miss his unwavering commitment to students and his magical ability to amuse, teach, and endear students, all at the same time."
Brad Berk, chair of the Department of Medicine and Medical Center CEO-elect, says, "Bob Berg had broad knowledge and vision, and a kindness about sharing those gifts that made him a role model for everyone from primary care to physician-scientists to geriatricians, and to me personally."
A native of Spokane, Washington, Berg was recruited to the University in 1958 to establish the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine. He became the first to hold the endowed position of Albert D. Kaiser Professor. A history of the Medical Center describes his recruitment and the formation of the department as an innovative move that was critically important in imprinting on the school's teaching program a commitment to community health.
Medical Center CEO C. McCollister Evarts describes him as a revered and respected faculty member and a national figure. "He brought his keen wit and intellect to the Medical Center. He was always cognizant of his role as a mentor to students and residents," Evarts says. "He truly was a citizen of the medical school."
Berg's wife, Florence Berg, died in 1985. He is survived by a daughter, Astri Cornett of Boxborough, Mass.; a son, Erik Berg of Boise, Idaho; and five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Plans for a memorial
service will be announced.
Maintained by Office of Communications
Community medicine pioneer dies
Medical Center leaders reflect on Berg's legacy
Berg
rofessor Emeritus Robert Berg, founding chair of the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine and a friend and mentor to School of Medicine and Dentistry students for almost 50 years, died at Highland Hospital on Tuesday, July 11. A Brighton resident, Berg was 87.
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