“The most important
thing we can do as a college is to continue to provide these
young men and women with a liberal arts education that will
prepare them for the world in which they are going to be
living, to develop their full potentials to be the leaders
who will strengthen our communities in the future,” Berte
said.
Following the announcement, the Board
of Trustees unanimously passed a resolution changing Berte's
title to chancellor and president and then unanimously approved
the naming of the just-renovated Humanities Center on campus
to the Anne and Neal Berte Humanities Center. The refurbished
facility was officially dedicated during ceremonies immediately
following the adjournment of the board meeting.
W. Michael Atchison, chairman of the college's
Board of Trustees, said that Berte's tenure on the
Hilltop campus was “unprecedented in length and achievements.”
“President Berte, with the help of
some dedicated board members, literally rescued the college
when he arrived in 1976 from a hapless situation, which conceivably
could have led to its demise,” said Atchison, a 1965
Birmingham-Southern graduate and an attorney and senior partner
with Starnes and Atchison in Birmingham. “The Berte
name is synonymous with integrity and excellence, and we
are so proud to have been the recipient of his immense talents
and hard work for more than a quarter of a century.
“He brought his visionary leadership
to Birmingham-Southern at a time when the college's
enrollment was declining, its endowment was almost non-existent,
its financial position faltering, and its buildings decaying
and its grounds unkempt. Today, the college is considered
one of the jewels in American private higher education for
the quality of education offered and the beauty of the campus.
“The Berte years at Birmingham-Southern
have been a period of remarkable progress, highlighted by
substantial growth in many areas and by achievements and
innovations that have brought national attention to the college.”
Atchison said that a national search for
a new president would begin this month and that a search
committee of trustees, faculty, staff, students, and alumni
currently is being assembled. He said he expects the search
to be completed by summer 2004.
Berte, who became the college's
11th president on Feb. 1, 1976, told the Board of Trustees
that he is privileged to be associated with Birmingham-Southern
and that he believes the “best is yet to come” for
the 148-year-old liberal arts college.
“Because of the tremendous support
of the Board of Trustees; the outstanding faculty, staff,
and students; and the commitment of our alumni and the larger
community, the college is well positioned to further strengthen
its role as one of America's best liberal arts colleges,” Berte
said when announcing his decision. “The future is brighter
than ever for Birmingham-Southern.
“The successful completion of most
of the goals of the strategic plan of the college, the completion
in 2004 of our routine 10-year accrediting reaffirmation
process, the successful completion of our major building
and renovation program, and gifts and financial support at
an all-time high make this an appropriate time to make this
move.”
Atchison said that the addition of chancellor
to Berte's title was in recognition of his service
and devotion to Birmingham-Southern and would allow him to
continue to assist the college as needed in the coming years.
“Dr. Berte has served as president
of Birmingham-Southern for nearly three decades, at a time
when the average tenure of a college president nationwide
is fewer than seven years,” Atchison commented. “That
is a tremendous testimony to his leadership, his vision,
and his devotion.”
Berte came to Birmingham-Southern in 1976
from the University of Alabama, where he was dean of the
New College and vice president for educational development.
Since that time, Birmingham-Southern has undergone a period
of tremendous progress and national recognition that is unprecedented
in the institution's history.
During Berte's tenure, student enrollment
has more than doubled while the academic profile of the student
body has increased and annually leads all other Alabama institutions
of higher learning in average ACT score and in number of
students from the top 10 percent of their high school classes
among first-year students. The annual operating budget has
grown from $3 million to nearly $57 million; the number of
faculty on campus has increased by nearly 70 percent and
the student-to-faculty ratio has lowered to 12-to-1; and
new programs and majors—including a new general education
plan known as Foundations—have been implemented.
Since 1976, the campus has been expanded
to more than 192 acres and more than 25 new facilities/structures,
additions, or renovations have been completed. The college's
financial future has been secured by growing the endowment
from $11 million to more than $136 million in the past few
years and increasing private giving to the college from $2
million a year in 1976 to a record $22.3 million in fiscal
2003.
The college consistently is recognized
as one of America's top National Liberal Arts Colleges
by U.S. News & World Report. This year, the college moved
into Tier I of the magazine's “national” liberal
arts category, the top category such an institution can attain.
The publication named Birmingham-Southern as the No. 1 Regional
Liberal Arts College in the South Region in 1987. Other recent
national recognitions or designations have included one of
22 private institutions in the country named a “Best
Buy” by the Fiske Guide to Colleges, as well as “America's
Most Wired Colleges,” “100 Best Values in Private
Colleges,” “America's Best Christian Colleges,” “Most
Efficiently Operated Schools in America,” “Colleges
that Encourage Character Development,” and “Best
Values,” among others. The college is one of only six
similarly categorized institutions to house a Phi Beta Kappa
chapter and to be accredited by AACSB International—The
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the
nation's premier accrediting agency for business schools.
Intercollegiate athletics also has been
a major priority during the Berte tenure, with Birmingham-Southern
student-athletes excelling on the athletic fields and playing
courts, as well as in the classroom. On Sept. 1, 2003, the
college officially became a member of NCAA Division I after
nearly five decades and three national championships as an
NAIA institution. The college also has expanded to 14 sports
and has joined the Big South Conference. Today, more than
60 percent of the college's student-athletes and eight
of 14 teams carry a 3.0 grade-point average or higher in
the classroom, and the graduation rate among student-athletes
entering in 1996 was 81 percent, which ranks fourth-best
among NCAA Division I-AAA schools and in the top 10 percent
of all Division I programs.
An Ohio native, Berte holds three degrees
from the University of Cincinnati, where he was elected into
Phi Beta Kappa. He has been a Visiting Scholar at Harvard
University and has served as President-in-Residence at the
Harvard Institute for Educational Management. He holds honorary
degrees from both Birmingham-Southern and the University
of Cincinnati.
He has many times been recognized, including
Birmingham's Distinguished Citizen Award, Citizen of
the Year, Erskine Ramsay Award for Outstanding Civic Service,
and Distinguished Gallery of Honor; two times named one of
Birmingham's Top 10 Leaders of the Decade by local
media; one of the “100 Most Effective College Presidents” by
the Council for Advancement and Support of Education; one
of “America's Leaders in Higher Education” by
the American Council on Education; and Administrator of the
Year in Alabama by the American Association of University
Administrators. In 1979, he became one of the youngest inductees
ever into the Alabama Academy of Honor. In October 2001,
he was inducted into the Birmingham Business Hall of Fame,
and, in May 2002, he was inducted into the Birmingham-Southern
College Sports Hall of Fame.
Berte has served in leadership positions
for many local organizations, including president and campaign
chairman for United Way, president of the Birmingham Area
Chamber of Commerce, president of the Birmingham Festival
of Arts, member of the board of the Birmingham Civil Rights
Institute, president of the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham, and
chairman of the Administrative Board of Canterbury United
Methodist Church, among others. He is founding chairman of
both Leadership Birmingham and of Region 2020, a citizen-driven
regional planning process of which he also was elected president
in 2000.
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