Allen H. Berger
Formal Biography
Allen H. Berger is the chief academic officer at the University of Maine at Farmington. He oversees all academic functions, with the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Dean of the College of Education, Health and Rehabilitation reporting directly to him. Berger’s responsibilities also include oversight of the Computer Center, Mantor Library, the Learning Assistance Center, the Registrar’s Office, and the Institutional Research and Instructional Technology operations.

Berger became the University’s Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs in 2000, coming to the Farmington campus from Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana, where he had served as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College since 1996.

The Maine Development Foundation tapped Berger for participation in its 2001-2002 “Leadership Maine” program. The Foundation selected Berger based on his personal concern about the future economic health and quality of life in Maine and a commitment to take actions which shape that future, a demonstrated capacity to lead at the statewide level, a record of accomplishment within an organization, and his community endeavors.

Allen Berger brings to the University of Maine at Farmington more than 25 years of experience in higher education. In addition to his service at Franklin College, Berger also worked for 17 years as a faculty member and administrator at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana; and as Executive Director for the Indiana Consortium for International Programs. In 1994-95 he was an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Berger’s work has included teaching in anthropology and general education programs and administrative experience at the department, division, dean, vice president, and consortial levels. Berger has had extensive involvement with curriculum planning, general education, interdisciplinary programming, international education, faculty hiring and evaluation, enrollment management, governance issues, diversity, and strategic planning.

As a cultural anthropologist, Berger has done fieldwork on the island of Sardinia where, along with his wife, he investigated the impacts of state and capitalist market penetration on the lives of shepherds and their families in the mountainous villages of the Barbagia region.

Since coming to UMF, Berger has been actively involved with the national Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC), where he has served as Program Chair. He has provided leadership in areas such as curriculum reform, the integration of technology into teaching and learning, the revision of promotion and tenure policies, assessment, and governance.

Locally, Allen Berger serves on the Boards of the Franklin Community Healthcare Network and the Western Mountains Alliance.

Berger holds a Ph.D. and Master’s Degrees from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Chicago. He also has earned a certificate from the Institute for Educational Management (IEM) at Harvard University.