N OT T I N G H I L L
of W EST B LOOMFIELD
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AQUATICS THERAPY POOL
Notting Hill of West Bloomfield is focused on
short-term in-patient rehabilitation, with the goal of
transitioning back home. We are happy to announce
the opening of our Aquatics Therapy pool. Aquatic
Therapy uses water’s naturally therapeutic properties
of buoyancy, resistance and warmth to enhance the
therapy experience. Since not all people respond
well to traditional gym exercise programs, many
people find aquatic therapy less stressful, preferable to
traditional methods...and FUN!
Why Choose Aquatic Therapy?
Gently builds strength
and muscle tone
Increases blood circulation
Improves range of motion
Decreases joint stress
“Weightless” Rehab
Mandell and
Madeleine Berman
at his election as a
Fellow of the American
Academy of Arts &
Sciences in 2013
Reduces pain
Minimizes swelling
Delivers better joint
position awareness
Develops core strength
6535 Drake Road , West Bloomfield , MI 48322
phone 248.592.2000 | www.cienafacilities.com
2098600
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32 January 5 • 2017
ooted in the American
Revolution, the honor sounded
impressive enough. But it took
a while before Mandell “Bill” Berman
understood just how select being elected
a Fellow of the American Academy of
Arts & Sciences was.
The Academy honors
highly notable contribu-
tions in science, scholar-
ship, public affairs and the
arts.
Dean of Detroit Jewry’s
philanthropists, a phil-
anthropic pillar of Jewish
education and Jewish
Robert Sklar
demographic and archival
Contributing Editor
research, an ambassa-
dor for building a better
Detroit and a man beloved
by so many young Jewish leaders,
Berman earned the prestigious election
from the Academy 3½ years ago — still
communally active then though a few
steps slower at age 95.
“I’m immensely flattered,” the Franklin
resident said as we chatted after he had
become a Fellow. “I’m very proud.”
He quickly turned the focus toward
work that still needed to be done on
behalf of the less fortunate.
The Academy notified Berman of his
election in April 2013. He achieved the
distinction of Fellow primarily because
of his humanitarian work, in Jewish and
non-Jewish sectors, through the Mandell
and Madeleine Berman Foundation he
created with Madge, his wife of 66 years.
ILLUSTRIOUS GROUP
The Academy inducted its 2013 class of
198 honorees at House of the Academy
in Cambridge, Mass., in October of that
year.
“I’m joining a pretty significant group,”
Berman, a Harvard University alumnus,
acknowledged in our conversation.
It’s a group that numbers just 4,900
American Fellows. The 600-member for-
eign honorary roster includes Winston
Churchill, Stephen Hawking and Abba
Eban.
Academy founders included such early
political and intellectual giants of our
country as John Adams, James Bowdoin,
Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
Soon, they were joined as Fellows by
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin,
Thomas Jefferson and Alexander
Hamilton.
Over the centuries, the distinc-
tion of Fellow was bestowed upon
Daniel Webster, Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow, John J. Audubon, Charles
Darwin, Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Alexander Graham Bell and, in more
recent times, Albert Einstein, Woodrow
Wilson, Henry Cabot Lodge, John
F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr.,
Margaret Mead and Jonas Salk.
Since chartered in 1780 by the
Massachusetts Legislature, the Academy
has sought to “cultivate every art and sci-
ence” with the potential “to advance the
interest, honor, dignity and happiness of
a free, independent and virtuous people.”
UPWARD, ONWARD
After serving in the Pacific as a naval
officer, Berman partnered with brother-
in-law Bert Smokler in 1946 to pursue
a career in housing and apartment
development. Later, Berman oversaw
giving from his Southfield office, MLB
Investments.
Paul Zuckerman, who founded Velvet
Peanut Butter and became a major phi-
lanthropist before his death at age 73 in
1986, is the only other Detroit Jew elect-
ed a Fellow of the American Academy of
Arts & Sciences.
The Academy cited the Berman
Foundation for wide-ranging relief,
activist and support efforts — in Metro
Detroit, in Israel and nationally.
Amid the expanse of his storied com-
munal service, Berman took delight in
helping imagine the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit’s Jewish
Experiences for Families (JEFF), a pro-
gram that evolved into a national model.
He told me with great pride, “I just
enjoy what I do.”
That remained his driving force, to
the good will of so many others, until the
day he died on Dec. 21 at age 99.
Every once in a while, someone
comes along whose legacy is truly tran-
scendental.
Bill Berman was such a person.
*