Skip to Content
MIT News magazine

James W. Berkovec

Roseville, California

Jim Berkovec’s son James died in a bicycle accident in 2009 at age 52. Now, he and his wife, Doris, have established the James A. Berkovec Memorial Fund to support a graduate fellowship in the Department of Economics.

“Jim found the people and the atmosphere at MIT stimulating and challenging,” his father says. “He really thrived here and made a lot of friends for life.”

When his son died, Berkovec says, two of his MIT friends and fraternity brothers suggested that a memorial fund be established in his name. At first Berkovec thought it was a “nice” idea, but the more he heard friends’ stories of his son’s success at MIT, the more he thought it was a “great” idea.

James A. Berkovec earned a bachelor’s degree from MIT in 1977 in civil and environmental engineering, specializing in transportation engineering. After a stint as an analyst with Cambridge Systematics, he returned to MIT to earn a PhD in economics in 1984. For four years, he was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Virginia; then he worked at the Federal Housing Administration in Washington, D.C. He later became a staff economist at the Federal Reserve, and in 1994 he joined Freddie Mac, where as a vice president he managed a staff responsible for economic modeling. He lived in Maryland and had three children.

After his death, Berkovec’s parents chose to establish a fellowship at MIT as a way to honor their son’s memory. “This enhancement of MIT’s highly regarded PhD program in economics will increase the attractiveness of the MIT program, making it better able to attract the best students,” Berkovec says. “We hope that this will benefit MIT and society as a whole, making the fellowship an appropriate legacy for James A. Berkovec.”

For giving information, contact Rob Scott: 617-253-3394;

rscott@mit.edu. Or visit giving.mit.edu.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

DeepMind’s cofounder: Generative AI is just a phase. What’s next is interactive AI.

“This is a profound moment in the history of technology,” says Mustafa Suleyman.

What to know about this autumn’s covid vaccines

New variants will pose a challenge, but early signs suggest the shots will still boost antibody responses.

Human-plus-AI solutions mitigate security threats

With the right human oversight, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence can help keep business and customer data secure

Next slide, please: A brief history of the corporate presentation

From million-dollar slide shows to Steve Jobs’s introduction of the iPhone, a bit of show business never hurt plain old business.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.