Cal U establishes first endowed chair
CALIFORNIA – California University of Pennsylvania established its first endowed chair with the formal installation of the Jeff and Beverly Berger Faculty Fellowship in Education at a recent convocation held during Homecoming week. The Beverly Berger Faculty Fellowship in Education is also the first endowed chair in the history of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), and the recipient was Dr. Kevin Koury.
The Bergers provided funds to recognize outstanding faculty in the College of Education and Human Services and to encourage new and innovative approaches to teacher education.
The Berger Endowed Chair provides funds, which support the academic and scholarly pursuits of the Berger Fellow. Specifically, awards may be used to fund graduate assistants, research, equipment, travel for scholarly pursuits and other expenses related to the responsibilities of the position, such as innovations to teacher education.
Endowed chairs are living memorials, perpetuating the donor’s name and signifying a permanent commitment to quality education.
Jeff Berger, president and CEO of Heinz Foodservice, a division of the H.J. Heinz Company, received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from Cal U and began his career at Heinz in 1974 as a buyer in the purchasing department.
The Bergers have a son, Justin James, and a daughter, Julie, who followed in her father’s footsteps and graduated from Cal U. The family’s newest addition is their 1-year-old grandson Jeffrey Michael Berger.
Beverly Berger serves as a volunteer for the Carnegie Library of Homestead, a place that evokes fond memories for both of the Bergers, who spent hours there as teenagers doing homework.
This year marks the 15th year of the Grand Ball, an effort that she worked on from its inception to raise operational funds for the community landmark that had been threatening to close its doors because of fiscal difficulties.
An active alumnus, Jeff Berger serves on the board of the Foundation for California University of Pennsylvania, and both he and Beverly Berger return to the Washington County campus frequently.
For this unprecedented event, Cal U President Angelo Armenti Jr. commissioned sculptor Alan Cottrill to create a medallion commemorating the Jeff and Beverly Berger Faculty Fellowship in Education.
As part of the ceremony, Mr. and Mrs. Berger placed the medallion around the neck of the official first-ever Berger Fellow.
Chair of the Special Education Department, Koury came to Cal U in August 1999 after teaching at West Chester University. He began his career in education as a child-care counselor at The Lincoln Hall School for Boys, moving on to teach math and learning disabled students in the public schools in West Virginia. Koury is a former member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and sat on the House Education Committee while there.
He collaborated with Dr. Gail Fitzgerald from the University of Missouri-Columbia, on a special feature essay, “KidTools and KidSkills: Self-help Management and Learning Tools for Children,” in the eighth edition of W.L. Heward’s “Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education.”
Koury has received grants from the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, Office of Diversity and Social Equity for the “California in Philadelphia Project,” a joint project with Nedra Kearney-Vakulick, elementary education, that places Cal U student teachers in the Philadelphia School District.
Koury is a member of many professional organizations including the Pennsylvania Federation of the Council for Exceptional Children, and he is an associate editor of The Journal of Education and Treatment of Children.
Cottrill’s medallion design includes an eagle, taking flight from the porticos of Old Main at Cal U. Behind the twin towers, a rising sun illuminates all.
An unfurled banner at the base of the portico bears the words Integrity, Civility and Responsibility. The artist used the words that are the core values of the university.
Cottrill also created the Ascent of Humanity, located on the Duda World Cultures Building, the statue of Dr. Robert Eberly that stands in front of Manderino Library, and the statue that pays tribute to the 1997 and 1998 NCAA Division II championship women’s softball teams that is located in front of the Natali Performance Center.