May 11: Retirement reception will honor Gordon Iseminger and Albert Berger

A public reception will honor Gordon Iseminger, Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of History and Albert Berger, professor of history, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 11, at the Grand Forks Historical Society Lecture Hall, 2405 Belmont Rd.

Gordon Iseminger is North Dakota’s longest-serving state employee, with 57 years of service to UND. He became a full professor in 1973, after only 10 years here, and was recognized as a Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor in 2003.  Over the years he has won numerous awards, including UND’s Outstanding Teacher Award, the Center for Western Studies Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Preservation of the Heritage of the Northern Great Plains, and the Larry Rowen Remelle Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Northern Great Plains History Conference.

His publications include The Quartzite Frontier: Surveying and Marking the North Dakota – South Dakota Boundary (1988), The Americanization of Christina Hillius: German-Russian Emigrant to North Dakota (1986), and over 25 other articles and publications on subjects as ranging from Sherlock Holmes to patent medicine laxatives.

At UND he has taught courses on a wide range of subjects, including European civilization, British and French history, Australia, and especially American regional history with a focus on the Great Plains and North Dakota.

He has also been a long time member and leader of the Grand Forks Historical Society.  Most recently, Dr. Iseminger was instrumental in memorializing the young Americans who died at UND during the influenza pandemic of 1918: you can go see the memorial tree and stone, just east of the Union.

Albert Berger came to UND in 1987, and has 32 years of service. He was promoted to full professor in 2016, and has taught courses in U.S. military and diplomatic history (covering most notably the Viet Nam War, Nuclear Weapons, and the modern wars in the Near East).  He has been an appointed member of the North Dakota State Historical Board since 2001, and was Board president, 2007-2009.

Berger’s publications include The Life and Times of the Atomic Bomb: Nuclear Weapons and the Transformation of War (London & New York: Routledge, 2016), and The Magic That Works: John W. Campbell and the American Response to Technology (San Bernardino, CA: Borgo Press, 1993), as well as numerous articles and other publications that deal with subjects ranging from military history and biography to science fiction.