Michael S. Berman

Doctor of Laws
University of Minnesota, Duluth, May 15, 2010

Michael S. Berman, an alumnus of both the University of Minnesota Duluth and Twin Cities campuses, is the President of The Duberstein Group, Inc., which is considered to be the leading independent government relations consulting firm in Washington, D.C. He has demonstrated a life-long commitment to public service by working tirelessly behind the scenes in Washington, D. C. He has served as counsel and deputy chief of staff to former Vice President Walter Mondale and he has worked on every Democratic presidential campaign from 1964 to 2000. He has also worked on every Democratic convention from 1968 to 2004. He has served on numerous national boards, including co-chair of the Board of the Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. Because of his political expertise, he has been invited as a lecturer at a number of universities across the country. He was appointed to the American University's School of Public Affairs as a fellow at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies in 2008. He gave the University of Minnesota Duluth Library an extensive collection of political memorabilia he acquired over his more than forty years of activity in state and national politics.