Carl Read Gerber’58 has been an active member of the College's Alumni Association for 40 years. He initially helped organize a local club in the District of Columbia, his residence since 1960, and has continued to work on local events since that time. In 2001, he received the Oberlin Club of Washington Honors award.
From 1969 to 1971, Gerber participated in the revitalization of the Alumni Association. This effort created the Alumni Admission and the Alumni in Service to Oberlin programs. He served as the Association's president 1972-73 and as a member of the executive board 1969-75 and 1983-89. He was a member of the presidential search committee 1974-75.
He has been president or vice president of his class for 25 years and has served as the planning chair for his 50th reunion. He was a member of the executive board and chair of the awards committee 1996-1999. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the Alumni Association in 2001.
Gerber organized a series of symposia in connection with the College’s sesquicentennial in 1983 and three commencement/reunion symposia: on multiculturalism, bioethics, and a retrospective look at the 1950’s. He has presented three environmental colloquia as well as lectured to several Oberlin classes. He served on the Environmental Policy Advisory Group from 2002 to 2003.
He has donated a number of works of Allen Memorial Art Museum and in 1996 endowed a fund for the purchase of contemporary art. He has been a member of the Museum's visiting committee since 2003 and is now the committee chair.
Gerber graduated from Oberlin in 1958 with a major in chemistry and earned a Master of Science degree in inorganic chemistry at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1960. His professional career of 40 years focused primarily on the management of research and development programs and the interaction between science and technology and public policy concentrating on energy and environmental issues. He held senior level management and policy positions for thirty years in the Federal government and not-for-profit institutions.
He worked at NASA's Lewis Laboratory, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U. S. Congress on a Congressional Fellowship, the National Science Foundation, the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy, the U.S. Radiation Policy Council, the Brookings Institution, and the Commission on Critical Choices for Americans.
He was a member of a 1991-92 World Health Organization panel that examined the environmental impact of energy production and use. He also served as the U.S. Representative on the Energy and Environment Group of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
In addition to his Congressional Fellowship, Gerber received the William A. Jump award for exemplary achievement in public administration and EPA's Distinguished Career Award in 1996. He is a member of Phi Lambda Upsilon, a national chemistry honorary fraternity and was elected to the Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C., in 1994, in recognition of his achievements in science and technology policy.
back to commencement home