WHO’s WHO @VCU: Meet Edward Bersoff

His appointment to the VCU Board of Visitors by former Gov. Mark Warner, said Edward Bersoff, was an honor. He now serves as rector of the board, a role his colleagues designated for him.

“The board (members) chose me to be rector,” Bersoff said. “I’m always happy to get recognition for business, but to be recognized for your service is much better.”

The 64-year-old previously has been acknowledged for his skills and service by the business and education communities. Once named Washington-area entrepreneur of the year, Bersoff has been a member of the boards of Virginia Economic Development, the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce and Inova Health Care Services.

He said his previous experience serving the boards of trustees for New York University and the George Mason University Foundation, as well as his duties as past president of the Northern Virginia Community College Educational Foundation, have prepared him for his current role as rector.

Bersoff said serving on various boards was his way to return the favor to communities that had given so much to him.

“I came to the Washington metro area when I got out of the Army with the shirt on my back,” he said. “I had two kids and the opportunity to go to work. I’ve been able to do a great deal with the tools I brought to the game.”

Bersoff spent his childhood days just after World War II playing basketball with his older brother in the streets of downtown Manhattan.

In junior high, he had an English teacher who taught him how to diagram sentences, a skill he said he’s still glad to possess today. He earned three math degrees from New York University and once taught math at the community college level.

Bersoff, who also minored in philosophy at New York University, said there is never a shortage of ways to give back to the community, especially in health care and education. He said his role as rector puts him in a position to be helpful to the university.

“The board is an important bond with the university,” he said. “We have extraordinary challenges to put pressure on the state to get adequate funding. Our underlying challenge is to educate Virginians.”

Ralph L. “Bill” Axselle Jr., a Richmond lawyer and vice-rector for the board, described Bersoff as a capable leader.

“He’s a very steady guy, a very good leader,” Axselle said. “I think we’ve had very good boards populated with good people interested in students, and Ed is an illustration of that.”

In addition, he described Bersoff’s extensive management experience and pleasant disposition as an asset to the board.

“Ed’s a very good fit,” Axselle said. “We’re very pleased with his service.”

Ashley Bacon-Ward, a junior political science major, serves as the Monroe Park Campus student representative to the board. She agreed that Bersoff is a good fit for the university’s governing committee.

“He basically runs the meetings, tells us what we’re going to discuss, what you need to know,” she said. “He makes the meetings very efficient.”

Bersoff said he thinks his term as rector, which ends this year, will be remembered as a transitory period for VCU, citing the university’s phenomenal growth now and into the next decade.

Once his service to the board ends, he said he plans to stay active in the Virginia education system, business and health care. In ten years, he said he hopes to spend his time traveling and watching his 11 grandchildren grow up.

“There’s no reason not to still be active,” Bersoff said. “Hopefully, I’ll still be vertical, and I look forward to the various parties to recognize former board members.”