August 16, 1999

UC Davis scholar appointed director of UC Washington center

By Chuck McFadden, UC Office of the President
and Julia Ann Easley, UC Davis

A distinguished political scientist with specialized academic interests in the American presidency, the war in Vietnam, and American institutions has been appointed director of the University of California Center in Washington, D.C., said UC President Richard C. Atkinson earlier this month.

The new director, Larry Berman, 48, is a member and former chairman of the Department of Political Science at UC Davis. Berman is currently serving as interim director of the UC Davis Washington program, one of a number of academic programs run in the nation's capital by UC campuses. The appointment is effective Sept. 1.

In June 2001, UC will open a new educational center in Washington that will bring the various UC programs together in a single location for study, research, and internships.

"Professor Berman's experience and international stature will be tremendous assets to UC's academic programs in Washington," said Atkinson. "He will provide the intellectual leadership to expand enormously the opportunities for our students and faculty and make the UC Washington center a truly exciting place to be."

"It's a very exciting opportunity because UC is building an institutional presence in Washington," Berman said. "My goal is to provide a coherent set of interdisciplinary academic opportunities at all levels--undergraduate, graduate, and research."

Berman is the author or coauthor of nine books and numerous articles. He is currently completing a book (working title "Imperfect Peace") on the U.S. disengagement from Vietnam during 1969-1973. The book will be published by The Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster.

In addition, he has appeared on a number of broadcasts, including Bill Moyers' Public Broadcasting System series, The Public Mind: The Truth About Lies.

Among other honors, Berman has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, and the American Council for Learned Societies. His class on the American presidency is cited in Lisa Birnbach's New and Improved College Guide as one of the most recommended classes for undergraduates at UC Davis.

During the past six years, Berman has conducted a series of live, interactive television programs from Washington with his undergraduate classes at UC Davis on the American presidency and American government. The programs are available from PBS Adult Learning.

In addition to his work in political science, Berman is an authority on integrating technology into the classroom. He regularly presents seminars and workshops on the subject to educators across the United States, and has lectured in China, Germany, Israel, and The Netherlands on American politics, foreign policy, and multimedia technology in the classroom.

Berman served as chairman of the UC Davis Political Science Department from 1989 to 1997. He received his B.A. magna cum laude from The American University in Washington, D.C., and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1977. He became an assistant professor of political science at UC Davis the same year.

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