Joseph S. Berliner

Background

Joseph Scholom Berliner was born on September 4, 1921, in New York City, New York, United States. He was a son of Michael Berliner and Yetta Berliner (maiden name Eisenberg).

Education

Joseph S. Berliner was raised in the Rockaway Beach area of Queens.

During World War II, he was a student at the United States Coast Guard Academy. In 1947, he received a Bachelor of Arts cum laude from Harvard University. It was followed by a Doctor of Philosophy degree seven years later.

Career

The start of Joseph S. Berliner's professional path can be counted from the military service in the capacity of the first engineer with the United States Maritime Service. From 1953 to 1954, he worked as an assistant to the director of the Russian Research Center at Harvard University.

After working as an economist in Washington, D.C. for a couple of years, Berliner taught economics at Syracuse University during the 1950s. He left the institution and joined Brandeis University Department of Economics in 1963 serving there till 1985. He later returned to Harvard, where he was a researcher at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies until his death.

During the service, Berliner took an active part in many major events on Sovietology, including Harvard's Refugee Interview Project to the Council of Foreign Relations. He served in the presidencies of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies and the Association for Comparative Economic Studies since 1963 and 1975 respectively. He was fully engaged in the activity of the Russian Research Center's Executive Committee, and on a great number of other institutions in the United States related to the Slavic Studies.

During the cold war, Berliner was one of the leading and most influential experts on the Soviet economy, and he was on a panel that advised the Central Intelligence Agency. He was the author of several books about economics and the Soviet Union, including Economy, Society, and Welfare, The Innovation Decision in Soviet Industry, and Soviet Industry from Stalin to Gorbachev.

Achievements

• Joseph S. Berliner is considered one of the most influential specialists in the domain of the Soviet studies in the United States.
  
  Using the interdisciplinary approach that drew information from different social-scientific disciplines, he contributed to the deeper understanding of the Soviet economy in the W.
  
  Berliner was a recipient of fellowships and grants from Guggenheim Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the Kennan Institute. He was featured in Marquis Who's Who as a noteworthy economics educator.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Soviet Industry from Stalin to Gorbachev 1988
  • The Innovation Decision in Soviet Industry 1976
  • Economy, Society and Welfare 1972
  • Soviet Economic Aid 1958

Membership

Member Association Comparative Economics Studies (president 1975-1976), American Association Advancement Slavic Studies (president 1963-1964), American Economics Association.

Personality

Joseph S. Berliner's positive impact on the resolving of the controversial points arising at Brandeis's Department of Economics in the late 1960s was named the "Berliner Effect". Berliner's colleagues appreciated his service ethic that was always based on the notions of amiability and friendship.

Connections

Joseph S. Berliner married Ann Korenbaum on November 7, 1943. The family produced three children named Paul, Carl, and Nancy.

Father:

Michael Berliner

Mother:

Yetta Berliner

Spouse:

Ann Korenbaum

Son:

Paul Berliner

Daughter:

Nancy Berliner

Son:

Carl Berliner