[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 24, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E607]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO DR. NEAL R. BERTE

                                 ______


                          HON. SPENCER BACHUS

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 23, 1996

  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, 
AL, one of the Nation's top liberal arts colleges, is observing the 
twentieth anniversary of Dr. Neal R. Berte as its President. Dr. Berte 
came to Birmingham-Southern on February 1, 1976 from the University of 
Alabama, where he was the Vice President for Educational Development 
and the Dean of the New College. Under Dr. Berte's two decades of 
leadership, Birmingham-Southern College has seen its enrollment more 
than double, its students' test scores rise to among the highest in the 
Southeast, its faculty size which includes some of the finest scholars 
in the country, increase more than 60 percent, its endowment grow from 
fourteen million dollars to more than eighty-two million dollars, the 
construction of seven new buildings with more planned, and its 
graduates accepted to the nation's top medical and law schools at rates 
far exceeding the national average. These achievements have not gone 
unnoticed. Respected publications such as U.S. News and World Report, 
Money, and The Princeton Review consistently name Birmingham-Southern 
College as one of the country's outstanding liberal arts colleges. Dr. 
Berte's untiring dedication to education has been recognized by many 
organizations, including the American Council on Education, which named 
him one of America's Leaders in Higher Education, and the Council For 
Advancement and Support of Education, which selected him as one of the 
100 Most Effective College Presidents. Dr. Berte is also a respected 
civic leader in Birmingham who is dedicated to improving the quality of 
life for his city and state. He is chairman of Leadership Birmingham 
and the Birmingham Business Leadership Group, which is made up of the 
chief executive officers of 45 of Birmingham's largest businesses. Dr. 
Berte has served as chairman of the Birmingham Area Chamber of 
Commerce, and campaign chairman and president of the United Way of 
Central Alabama. For his civic and community leadership, he has 
received many honors, including being named Birmingham's citizen of the 
year and being inducted into the city's Distinguished Gallery of Honor. 
Working with Dr. Berte during his 20 years at Birmingham-Southern 
College is his wife, the First Lady of Birmingham-Southern, Anne Berte, 
a tireless civic and community leader in her own right. I want to 
congratulate Neal and Anne Berte on the outstanding job they have done 
at Birmingham-Southern College during the past 20 years, and I wish 
them continued happiness and success in the years to come.

                          ____________________