USask graduate provides $500,000 for classroom renovation

Mel Berg (BComm’67) traces the start of his long and successful career in accounting to his time at the University of Saskatchewan (USask), where he began his studies in 1964.

After graduating from high school in Canwood, Sask., Berg came to USask’s College of Commerce—now called the Edwards School of Business—with the dream of becoming a professional accountant.

“I had an aptitude for accounting,” he recalled in a recent interview. “I was the teenage bookkeeper for my father’s farm, and it sort of grew from there.”

Berg excelled at USask and graduated at the top of his class. During USask’s Fall Convocation in 1967, Dr. J.W.T. Spinks, the university’s president at the time, presented him with the University Prize in Commerce. Berg also received the President’s Medal, which in 1967 was a new award created by the president for the most distinguished graduate at each of USask’s campuses in Saskatoon and Regina.

With his degree complete, Berg moved to Toronto to embark on what would become a 35-year career at Arthur Andersen. He began as an audit staff member and later became a partner. He then joined Deloitte after Arthur Andersen merged with Deloitte in 2002. In 2008, Berg retired as a partner with Deloitte.

Throughout his career, Berg has maintained his connections to USask. As a proud USask alumnus, he supports the learning journeys of current and future Edwards School of Business students, most recently through a $500,000 gift to the Be What the World Needs Campaign. The campaign is the most ambitious in Saskatchewan’s history, with a goal of $500 million.

Berg’s gift will support the renovation of Room 145 at the Edwards School of Business. The renovation will turn an underutilized graduate space into a classroom for business students, which will be named The Melvin Berg Classroom.

“The Melvin Berg Classroom will be a dynamic learning environment where technology meets imagination, enabling enriched conversations among learners,” said Edwards School of Business Dean Dr. Keith Willoughby (PhD). “The renovated space will inspire collaboration, innovation, and creativity, equipping our students to be the socially conscious professionals the world needs. The investment reflects our shared commitment to the quality of teaching, student experience, and research at Edwards.”

For Berg, “it’s fantastic” to have the opportunity to support the renovation of the classroom through his gift of $500,000.

“It’s a great feeling to be able to give back and be part of the future, as well as having been part of the past,” he said.

As an undergraduate student, the first few years of Berg’s studies in the College of Commerce were spent in the Hangar Building, which was originally constructed as an Air Force training facility at Dafoe, Sask., during the Second World War. To provide temporary teaching space, it was dismantled and then completely reassembled on USask’s Saskatoon campus by January 1947.  The Hangar Building was eventually demolished decades later, in 1994.

Berg and his fellow College of Commerce students relocated to new facilities in the current Law/Commerce complex when it was completed in early 1967.  Berg—then in the final year of his degree—was one of the first students to take courses in the classroom now known as Room 145. Years later, during USask’s 1975/76 academic year, he taught first-year accounting courses in Room 145 while on a sabbatical from his job at Arthur Andersen.

For Berg, his past experiences as both a learner and a teacher in the classroom make funding its renovation extra special.

“I think it’s really a thing that’s coming full circle,” he said.

Berg plans to visit Saskatoon this summer to tour the classroom and to view the renovation work in progress.

Reflecting on his own undergraduate education and his subsequent career in accounting, Berg’s advice for post-secondary students and future business leaders is to be dedicated and determined, since “a work ethic goes a long way to make things happen.” He also advises students to find something that they are passionate about and to work in a profession that they truly enjoy.

“I used to make the observation that I couldn’t really tell the difference between working and playing,” he said. “I always liked what I was doing.”

Now retired, Berg makes giving back to his alma mater a priority. In November 2020, he joined the USask Alumni Advisory Board as a way to stay connected to the university and to help guide alumni strategy. In May 2021, Berg became vice-chair of the board, a position he continues to hold. While Berg now lives in Victoria, B.C., he continues to travel back to Saskatchewan annually to visit his family farm and he meets regularly with members of the USask community through his role with the Alumni Advisory Board.

Berg’s decision to support USask is connected to his belief in life-long learning, a value he shared with his late wife, Erin O’Neill, who worked as a teacher, and that he continues to share with his daughter, Dr. Kristen Berg (PhD), a scholar in the field of social work. Because of their commitment to life-long learning and post-secondary education, Mel Berg and Erin O’Neill previously established a foundation through which donations can be made to Canadian universities, including scholarships for mature students studying at O’Neill’s alma mater, Woodsworth College at the University of Toronto. Berg’s recent $500,000 gift for the classroom renovation at USask flows from the foundation, as did previous gifts to USask, including a donation of $50,000 to the Dean’s Circle at the Edwards School of Business.

Dr. Airini (PhD), USask’s provost and vice-president academic, said USask is grateful for the support of Mr. Berg and all alumni and donors who are making a difference for current and future students. Enhancing learning opportunities and learning environments for USask students is a key priority for the university, she said.

“As our Learning, Teaching and Student Experience Plan shows, we are driven by the desire to offer a university experience where people can learn, create, and grow in the context of inclusion and respect. We are inspired by our aspiration to be a university that sets the standard for learning,” said Airini.

“Through impactful gifts to our university, exactly like this generous contribution from Mr. Melvin Berg for a renovated classroom at the Edwards School of Business, we will help our students develop as learners and leaders needed by our province and our world.”