"Columbia has lost a true friend-one so treasured that he was recognized with a special award at our recent Centennial Celebration for his many contributions to the School," said Dean Ronald A. Feldman. "We join other members of the social work community in mourning Sidney's passing, and will be forever grateful for his personal dedication and professional accomplishments."
Professor Berengarten graduated cum laude from NYU with degrees in history and French. He received his MA in history and international relations from Clark University, then began doctoral studies in American history and public law at Columbia, where he also received his MS in social work. Initially a field worker with the New York City Department of Welfare, he rose to the position of assistant case supervisor before leaving to serve as chief psychiatric social worker and clinical psychologist in the U.S. Army. Later, he was a consultant in social work to the Army's Surgeon General for 28 years. Throughout his career in social work, he was a major force in the development of field work education.
He made important contributions to the Council on Social Work Education, serving as director of its Division of Standards and Accreditation in New York, as a consultant on accreditation in Washington, D.C., and as a workshop leader or speaker at most of the organization's annual meetings.
He authored numerous monographs, chapters and articles about social work education, field instruction and personality in the practice of social work. At the School of Social Work, he helped develop a groundbreaking program in international social work education involving a cooperative relationship between CUSSW and schools of social work in Colombia, South America. This program spanned the years 1965-1975.
After retiring from teaching, he devoted much time to the School of Social Work's Oral History series and the Pathfinder videotape series, which contain interviews with many of the School's most accomplished luminaries, including Florence Hollis, Herman Stein, Mitchell I. Ginsberg, Carol H. Meyer and Berengarten himself. He was the editor and primary author of five monographs entitled The Columbia University School of Social Work: A History of Social Pioneering, and received awards of appreciation from Columbia and the Council on Social Work Education. NASW named him a Social Work Pioneer, and recently the CUSSW Alumni Association Hall of Fame Committee selected him as one of the School's Pioneers. The Golden Anniversary Class of 1949 has also chosen to honor him this year at their 50th Reunion Dinner.
Many colleagues, fellow alumni/ae and former students attended the memorial service held Wednesday, April 21 in Columbia University's Low Library. The speakers included former CUSSW Professor Rosalind S. Miller; CUSSW Professor Emeritus James O. F. Hackshaw; CUSSW Professor Emerita Isabel Stamm; Dr. Nancy Randolph, director of CSWE's Division of Standards and Accreditation; former CUSSW Assistant Dean Danna Wood, Esq.*; Dr. Judith Lemberger, representing the New York Area Directors of Field Work; Dr. Herman Stein, Dean Emeritus, Case Western Reserve University School of Applied Social Sciences; and Dean Ronald A. Feldman. Contributions in Professor Berengarten's memory may be made to the CUSSW Oral History Project, 622 West 113th Street, Room 418, New York, NY, 10025.
