Awards, People

Two honored with 2017 Faculty Service Award

By Public Affairs

David LIeberman and Trond Petersen
David LIeberman and Trond Petersen
David LIeberman and Trond Petersen

David LIeberman and Trond Petersen

Berkeley Law professor David Lieberman and sociology professor Trond Petersen today were named the recipients of the Berkeley Faculty Service Award for 2017.

The award, given annually, honors a member of the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate for outstanding and dedicated service to the campus, and whose work has significantly enhanced the quality of the campus as an educational institution and community of scholars. The winners are selected by the Berkeley Division.

Lieberman, who is the James W. and Isabel Coffroth Professor of Jurisprudence, “has served Berkeley tirelessly and effectively,” according to his award citation. Among many other contributions, he turned around the Jewish Studies program. When he took over as chair of a special task force on Jewish Studies, the citation relates, the program had hit bottom: It no longer had staff or office, was reduced to four faculty, and was about to close, orphaning 12 graduate students.

“David ‘did the impossible,’ turning around a program that few could see being revived, at an unheard-of speed on a campus not known for institutional agility,” writes professor Kenneth Bamberger, who formerly served as Jewish Studies co-chair.

Petersen has served as chair of the Department of Sociology, associate dean for Social Sciences and served on several Senate committees. His “major contribution,” according to his citation, has come in the area of international education. Peterson built the Berkeley International Study Program and founded the Peder Sather Center, which benefited both his department and the campus overall.

He was recently awarded a knighthood by the Norwegian government for all of his good works.

Read more about the recipients