The ATA Chronicle - May/June 2021 - 9

IN MEMORIAM

S. Edmund Berger
Namesake of the S. Edmund Berger Prize for
Excellence in Scientific and Technical Translation
(November 13, 1922-December 13, 2020)
(The following is based on
information provided by
The Buffalo News and the
United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum.)
S. Edmund Berger, a
longtime ATA member
and past recipient of the
Association's Alexander Gode
Medal, died on December
13, 2020. The S. Edmund
Berger Prize for Excellence
in Scientific and Technical
Translation1, awarded by
ATA and the American
Foundation for Translation
and Interpretation (AFTI), is
named in his honor.
Berger was born in
Osijek, Yugoslavia (Croatia)
in 1922. He received a
doctorate in chemistry in
1946. A Holocaust survivor2,
he emigrated to the U.S.
in 1949. He worked as a
researcher, first at Harvard

S. Edmund Berger (third from left) with his family at the 2002 ATA Annual Conference in Atlanta,
Georgia, where it was announced that the S. Edmund Berger Prize for Excellence in Scientific
and Technical Translation was being established in his honor.

Medical School (forensic
chemistry) and then for
a chemical corporation
in Buffalo, New York. He
focused on basic and applied
research in areas such as
polymers, food chemistry,
surfactants, fluorocarbon
solvent applications, and
polyurethane coatings. He
also worked as a freelance
translator in the chemical
and biomedical fields for
over 50 years. Colleagues
described him as a " quiet

He joined ATA in 1961
and was an ATA-certified
translator (French>English,
German>English, and
Italian>English). In 1999,
he was awarded ATA's
Alexander Gode Medal,
the Association's most
prestigious award presented
to an individual or institution
in recognition of outstanding
service to the translation
and interpreting professions.

mentor and a superb role

In 2002, his family

model who earned the

established the S. Edmund

respect of experienced and

Berger Prize for Excellence

beginning translators alike. "

in Scientific and Technical

www.ata-chronicle.online

Translation to recognize
excellence in scientific and
technical translation by an
ATA member.
He was married to Benis
Berger and the late Sultana
Berger. He is survived by his
children Ruth (Rob)
Goldston, Daniel (Bethann
Johnston) Berger, Steven
(Mary Anne) Chernoff, and
Debra (Larry Rubin)
Chernoff, as well as nine
grandchildren and five
great-grandchildren.

NOTES
1
For more information on
the S. Edmund Berger
Prize for Excellence in
Scientific and Technical
Translation, see www.
atanet.org/award/sedmund-berger-prize.
2

An oral history interview
with S. Edmund Berger
from 1989 is available
from the United States
Holocaust Memorial
Museum, http://bit.ly/
Holocaust-Berger.

American Translators Association

http://www.atanet.org/award/s-edmund-berger-prize http://www.atanet.org/award/s-edmund-berger-prize http://www.atanet.org/award/s-edmund-berger-prize http://bit.ly/Holocaust-Berger http://bit.ly/Holocaust-Berger http://www.ata-chronicle.online

The ATA Chronicle - May/June 2021

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