This award honors the Gelardis and the award recipient who is deemed to have those same qualities as the Gelardis; presented in recognition of unselfish dedication, visionary leadership, and pioneering spirit.
Robert G. Berkowitz, D.C. began his Chiropractic journey in 1976 after graduating from Rutgers University in New Jersey where he earned his Bachelor of Science and earned six varsity letters in football, wrestling, and baseball.
He transferred to Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic after numerous discussions with his Rutgers fraternity Brother, Dr. Peter Lope, who was enrolled at Sherman.
Sherman represented a vision of chiropractic as a separate and district profession, with a clear and rational objective: the detection and correction of vertebral subluxation for the sole purpose of allowing the life within the body a better circumstance to express itself.
It’s been a 42-year journey as a solo practitioner that has included actively promoting, supporting, and advancing the unique concept of a non-therapeutic chiropractor, representing Sherman at graduate student fairs around the tri-state area of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, or wherever Sherman asked him to go.
Bob served on the Sherman College Board of Trustees for 22 years, never missing a meeting or conference call. As its chair for four years, during what were the most challenging times, he represented Sherman’s vision of chiropractic at various venues including in front of the accrediting agencies of SACS and CCE, as well as federal legislators in Washington, DC.
On the state level, Bob has been active for 42 years as a member of the Garden State Chiropractic Society, 38 years as a member of their Board of Directors, and as an officer for 33 years.
He has testified in front of both the New Jersey state senate and assembly to successfully allow the non-therapeutic objective to be included within the Scope of Practice Act.
On the national and international levels, he has been a part of the FSCO, currently the IFCO, since his time as a Sherman student. Dr. Berkowitz also served as a board member of the organization for over 35 years.
During 9/11, he was credentialed by both FEMA & the City of New York as a volunteer chiropractor at FEMA’s command center in the Javits Convention Center and in lower Manhattan where the tragedy occurred.
Along the way, he has been named Sherman College’s Regent of the Year on more than one occasion, Chiropractor of the Year by Sherman College and the Garden State Chiropractic Society, and was one of only two people to have a Sherman Lyceum dedicated in his honor during the millennial year.
Sherman College of Chiropractic provides students with a comprehensive chiropractic education, preparing them to enter the field as doctors of chiropractic who are highly skilled, compassionate, ethical and successful. On its 80-acre campus in South Carolina, Sherman offers a professional degree program unique in its approach to health care and known globally for the skill and art of chiropractic delivered by graduates. For more information, visit www.sherman.edu or call 800-849-8771.
For more information, please contact:
Melissa Schmitt
Director of Marketing and Communications
Sherman College of Chiropractic
Phone: 800-849-8771, ext. 242
E-mail: mschmitt@sherman.edu
Web: www.sherman.edu
