Posted July 12, 2017

Berman named vice provost for undergraduate studies

Daniel W. Berman, a Classics and Intellectual Heritage leader, will be responsible for the undergraduate experience at Temple.

Daniel Berman standing with his arms crossed, smiling.
Photography By: 
Ryan S. Brandenberg
A respected scholar in the area of ancient Greek literature and myth, Daniel W. Berman came to Temple in 2009 after seven years at Penn State, where he earned tenure in 2008.

Temple University Executive Vice President and Provost JoAnne A. Epps announced that Professor Daniel W. Berman, chair of the Department of Greek and Roman Classics and director of the Intellectual Heritage program at Temple’s College of Liberal Arts, has been named vice provost for undergraduate studies, effective July 17.

As vice provost for undergraduate studies, Berman will provide leadership and support on matters related to undergraduate education. Serving both students and faculty, he will lead an office that works to enrich the academic environment for undergraduate students and to further the academic mission of the university.

“Dan brings a unique combination of broad-based experience at two institutions, scholarly accomplishment, teaching excellence, clear vision and a spirit of cross-college collaboration to the position of vice provost for undergraduate studies,” Epps said. “Our students deserve a leader like Dan, who has devoted his entire career solely to advancing undergraduate education.”

Berman will oversee a wide range of offices and centers, including all university-wide academic advising and support centers, the General Education program, the Career Center, the Honors Program, the Office of Continuing Studies, the Division of University Studies (serving students who have not yet decided on a school/college or major at Temple), ROTC and more.

Our students deserve a leader like Dan, who has devoted his entire career solely to advancing undergraduate education.”
-- JoAnne A. Epps, provost

“I’m excited to begin working with Provost Epps’ team and Temple’s deans to improve the academic experience for all Temple undergraduates,” Berman said. “We have a dual shared commitment: to prepare our students for success after they graduate, regardless of major, and to give them the tools they need to enter society as productive and thoughtful citizens.”

A respected teacher and scholar in the area of ancient Greek literature and myth, Berman came to Temple in 2009 after seven years at Penn State, where he earned tenure in 2008. He began the first of two terms serving as director of Temple’s Intellectual Heritage program—which encompasses the two core humanities courses taken by all Temple undergraduates—in 2011. In 2012-13, Berman directed the prestigious Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome, serving as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Professor-in-Charge. In 2014, he became chair of Temple’s Department of Greek and Roman Classics.

Berman has authored books (most recently Myth, Literature, and the Creation of the Topography of Thebes, published by Cambridge University Press in 2015), book chapters in edited volumes and articles in flagship American and international journals. He earned his PhD from Yale University 2001 after receiving a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1994. He is married to Professor Lila Corwin Berman, the Murray Friedman Chair of American Jewish History and director of the Feinstein Center for American Jewish History at Temple’s College of Liberal Arts.

When Berman takes office on July 17, he will replace Peter R. Jones, whom Provost Epps thanked for “many years of innovative leadership and dedication to Temple undergraduates as senior vice provost.” Jones will return to the faculty of Temple’s Department of Criminal Justice.