Derish M. Wolff, Chairman of Berger Group Holdings, Inc., has been active in the consulting engineering profession since 1961 when he first joined the Berger Group. Prior to that he served as a financial analyst for Stein Ericsson/Sigmund Werner, Inc., a sporting goods manufacturer.
During his long career with Berger, Mr. Wolff has worked in over 80 countries on a variety of assignments. Joining the Group in 1961 as a Transportation Planner, Mr. Wolff was appointed Chief Economist in 1965 and Vice President in Charge of Planning in 1968 where he supervised planning and technical assistance programs in over 50 countries. In 1976 he was appointed Executive Vice President; President and Chief Executive Officer in 1982; and Chairman in 2002. Additionally, he serves as Director on several international and domestic corporations including CHELBI (China); Klohn Crippen (Canada); EA Engineering, Science, and Technology; Berger, Devine Yaeger; Ammann & Whitney; and Virginia Maintenance Services.
Mr. Wolff served as Chairman of the International Engineering Committee of the American Consulting Engineers Council from 1983 to 1985 and as Vice Chairman for 1981, 1982, and 1986. He was a member of the 1986 Presidential Trade Delegation to Japan, the Industry Sector Advisory Committee to the U.S. Trade and Development Program from 1989 to 1992, the 1989 Center for Strategic and International Studies Steering Group on the GATT Negotiations, and has been a member of the Bretton Woods Committee since 1987. Mr. Wolff was also a delegate to the International Engineering and Construction Industries Council from 1986 to 1988 and 1990 to 1992, and served as Chairman from 1988 to 1990. Organizational memberships include the Building Futures Council since 1991, the Advisory Committee for the Board of Trustees for the New Jersey Institute of Technology since 1995 and Advisory Committee to the Huntsman Program of International Studies at the University of Pennsylvania since 1995. In December 2001, he was appointed to the Department of State’s Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) Industry Advisory Panel (IAP); and in 2002, he was chosen as a member of the Selection Jury for the Charles Pankow Award for Innovation.
He has been a guest lecturer at the United Nations, the U.S. Foreign Service Institute, The New School for Social Research, Harvard Business School, New York Polytechnic Institute, The University of Denver, Rutgers University, Newark Institute of Technology and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. In 1995 Mr. Wolff was a participant at the World Hemisphere Trade Ministerial & Commerce Conference in Denver. He has also participated in a number of studies and programs dealing with Capital Development Programs including the ACEC report on “Engineering Services in a U.S. Foreign Assistance Program.”
He has served on a variety of editorial boards including Modern Engineer Technology from 1978 to 1980, Modern Government and National Development from 1972 to 1979, and Construction Business Review from 1991 to present. He has authored over 30 articles including “The Role of the Consulting Engineer in Developing Countries” for Technos, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1980, “The Modern Tourism Planning: Ending the Piecemeal Approach” for Modern Government/National Development Magazine, March 1978, “The New Urban Habitat” for Urban Land Institute and has been a contributing author to Worldwide Planning Magazine.
He is a 1957 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and later served as Alumni Class President. He received his Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1959.
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