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Elihu E. Bergman ’50

A picture of Elihu Bergman

Elihu E. Bergman ’50, November 23, 2005, in Seattle, Washington. Eli began his studies at Reed, but left after two years to enter the U.S. Army, serving in World War II. With two friends, he joined Aliya Bet, assisting in the transport of Holocaust survivors to Palestine. He was imprisoned twice for his efforts, and later returned to the U.S. to help recruit pilots for Israel’s War of Independence. He later returned to Reed and received a BA in political science. He continued his education at the University of Chicago, earning an MA in 1951. His career in foreign aid and technical assistance began with the U.S. Agency for International Development in Washington, D.C., and Yugoslavia; then included a position with Robert Nathan Associates in Iran; and for the Ford Foundation in Mexico. In 1970, he received a PhD from the University of North Carolina, and was then assistant director of the Harvard Center for Population studies in Cambridge. In 1980, he became executive director of Americans for Energy Independence in Washington, D.C. Eli retired in 1992, and moved to Seattle. For his 50th class reunion, Eli noted that Reed’s affect on his life was a profound one. "The intellectual and communal experience at Reed contributed to a depth and breadth of the thinking processes and a constructive outlook about the world around me." He married Elsbeth Weber in 1961; they had two children, and later divorced. Survivors include his daughter and son, three grandchildren, brother Abraham Bergman ’54, and nephew Matthew Bergman ’84.

Appeared in Reed magazine: February 2006