Richard E. Berendzen

Berendzen was born in Walters, Oklahoma on September 6, 1938. In 1942, Berendzen and his parents, Earl and June Berendzen, moved to Portland, Oregon, where Berendzen developed rheumatic fever and asthma at a young age. He was confined to his room where he watched other children play in the front yard and listened to his mother's stories.[1][2][3]

In 1945, the family relocated to Dallas, Texas where Earl managed a hardware store. Richard Berendzen remained ill and bedridden for three more years and began spending time stargazing on his lawn.[2][1]

In 1946, Berendzen began attending school for the first time as a second grader.[2] June's mental health began to deteriorate, and "She was wildly unpredictable. Labels like manic, paranoid, delusional, and psychotic came years later. Sometimes she would be furious for no apparent reason; then, in a snap, she could suddenly become incredibly loving, supportive, and fun.” Berendzen began experiencing sexual abuse in his home at this time.[4]

Berendzen attended Southern Methodist University where he pursued a physics degree. He transferred to MIT after his sophomore year[2][5] and received a bachelor of science degree in 1961.[3] Berendzen continued to Harvard as a graduate student where he served as a teaching assistant for both William Liller and Carl Sagan. He graduated in 1967 with a masters' degree and a joint Ph.D in astronomy and education.[2][5][6]

Berendzen joined the physics and astronomy faculty at Boston University and became the chair of the astronomy department in 1971.[6] In 1974, he was hired as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at American University in Washington, D.C. [2][5][6] American University appointed him as provost in 1976,[3] and in 1980 he became the university's eleventh president.[2][6]

”My job [as President],” Berendzen told the New York Times, “is to tap the unique resources of this city and to get to know the powerful leaders of Washington, who can be beneficial to the university.”[7] Berendzen and his wife, Gail, averaged eleven Washington social functions every week during this time. During Berendzen's tenure as president, American University's endowment tripled in size.[7][1]

As president, Berendzen secured a $5 million donation from Saudi businessman Adnan Khashoggi toward the Adnan Khashoggi Sports and Convocation Center and named Kashoggi to the university's board of trustees.[7] Khashoggi's donation, and the building's subsequent naming, elicited limited protests from some American University students and former faculty who were concerned about Khashoggi's role in the Iran-Contra Affair.[8] Kashoggi was removed from the board in 1989 after facing charges of racketeering, fraud and obstruction of justice pertaining to his dealings in the Philippines.[9] [10]

In March 1990, daycare owner Susan Allen received a phone call from a man claiming to be a gynecologist and inquiring about her sexual habits. Allen reported the call to her husband, a Fairfax County law enforcement officer, and continued to engage with the caller for several weeks while police monitored the communication via call tracing and tape recordings. Allen described the calls as "filthy beyond your most horrible nightmares."[2][11]

Police traced the calls to American University and Berendzen's private phone line.[11] On April 7, the Board of Trustees confronted Berendzen, who resigned on April 8th and was admitted to Johns Hopkins, where he was treated with several therapies addressing his childhood abuse.[12][13] On April 10th, Berendzen issued a public statement citing "exhaustion" as the reason behind his decision to step down.[1][3][14]

Berendzen was charged with two misdemeanor counts of making indecent calls.[14] He pleaded guilty to both and his jail time was suspended on the condition that he continue receiving psychiatric treatment for the next year.[15][16] Once the case became public, more than two dozen other daycare providers in the Fairfax area reported to police the they had also received obscene calls.[1]

In the summer of 1990, Allen filed a $11 million lawsuit against Berendzen and American University.[17] The case was settled for an undisclosed sum.[18]

In 1992, Berendzen returned to American University as a full-time physics professor and served in that role until he retired in August 2006.[16][19]

In addition to his responsibilities at American University, Berendzen chaired the commission on the Budget and Financial Priorities of the District of Columbia[20] and the American Council on Education's Committee on Foreign Student Policy.[21]

He served on the board of the Planetary Society[22] and the advisory board for the National Center for the Survivors of Child Abuse.[23] He was a consultant to NASA,[24] served on NASA's Exploration Advisory Task Force[25] and Selection Panel for the Teacher-in-Space Program,[26] has served as Director of NASA's Space Grant Consortium for Washington, D.C..[22], and has testified about space and education before the United States Congress.[27]

Under the auspices of the New York Academy of Sciences and the American Astronomical Society, Berendzen organized and chaired a major international conference, titled "Education in and History of Modern Astronomy."[28] He organized and chaired two other key conferences: "Life Beyond Earth and the Mind of Man" (at Boston University) in 1973 and "Space 2000" (at American University) in 1999.[29][30] Proceedings from the Boston University was included in Who's Out There?, a 1975 television program narrated by Orson Welles.[31][32]

Berendzen was an original member of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal,[33] and received their Public Education in Science Award.[34]

Berendzen received a honorary doctorate degrees from Seton Hall University[35] and the University of Columbo[36] in 1985, and from the University of Maryland in 1990.[37]

Berendzen met his first wife, Barbara Edwards, at Woodrow Wilson High School, and their first daughter, Deborah, was born during Berendzen's first year at SMU.[2]. In 1960, while Berendzen was at MIT, Barbara returned to Dallas with Deborah and the couple divorced.[5][2] Berendzen married Gail Edgar, who he met at Harvard, in 1964 [2] and the couple had a daughter named Natasha.[38]

Richard E. Berendzen at IMDb