Benevolence Define: Adolph Berle

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Adolph Berle

Adolf Augustus Berle, Jr. (English pronunciation: /ˈbɜrli/; January 27, 1895 – February 17, 1971) was a lawyer, educator, author, and U.S. diplomat.[1] He was the author of The Modern Corporation and Private Property, a groundbreaking work on corporate governance, and an important member of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's "Brain Trust".Berle was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He entered Harvard College at age 14, earning a bachelor's degree in 1913 and a master's in 1914. He then enrolled in Harvard Law School. In 1916, at age 21, he became the youngest graduate in the school's history.

Upon graduation Berle joined the military. His first assignment as an intelligence officer was to assist in increasing sugar production in the Dominican Republic by working out property and contractual conflicts among rural landowners. Immediately after World War I Berle became a member of the American Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, advocating for smaller nations' rights of self-determination. In 1919 Berle moved to New York City and became a member of the law firm of Berle, Berle and Brunner.