Impact

This endowed scholarship is a tribute to Roberta M. Berns, who taught at Saddleback College for 30 years. Roberta is author to the best-selling Child, Family, School, Community: Socialization and Support. The textbook has been adopted by hundreds of colleges worldwide and examines how school, family, and community influence children’s socialization. Roberta Berns founded and chaired the Human Development Department at Saddleback College and also served as a professor at the University of California, Irvine. Roberta’s husband, Dr. Michael Berns, is a renowned UC Irvine Microbiologist Professor/Researcher and co-founder of the Beckman Laser Institute. Michael and Roberta were high school sweethearts; both attended Cornell University and shared 56 years together before she passed away in the Spring of 2015. One of their two children is Tammy Karn, a longtime faculty member in the Mt. SAC English Department.