Background Louis Berger was founded in 1953 by
Louis Berger in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Born in 1914 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Dr. Berger graduated from
Tufts College in 1936 with a degree in civil engineering, and earned a master’s in soils and geology from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940. In 1942, Dr. Berger joined the
United States Coast Guard where he designed waterfront facilities along the Mississippi River and commanded a Coast Guard base in Greenland. Upon returning from active duty, he earned his PhD in
soil mechanics from
Northwestern University and joined the teaching faculty at the
Pennsylvania State University. In 1952, Dr. Berger left his position at
Pennsylvania State University to form the engineering consulting firm that would later become Louis Berger. Fredric S. Berger, son of the company's founder, Dr. Louis Berger, was involved with the company since 1972 and served as chairman of Louis Berger Group from 2007 until his passing in April 2015. Mr. Berger held a bachelor's in economics from
Tufts University and a master of science degree in civil engineering from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Berger was a founding member of the
American University of Afghanistan and served on the university's board from 2004 to 2015. In 2013, Mr. Berger was appointed to advisory boards for the
U.S. Institute of Peace and the
U.S. Trade and Development Agency.
Early years The firm’s first major projects included design on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the first turnpike in the U.S., The firm also designed the Herat-Islam Qala Highway in Afghanistan in 1965. The project was initially rejected by the Burmese government as proposed by the Corps of Engineers, but Louis Berger was able to design the project using more economical alternatives. In 2012, Louis Berger completed work on the Juba-Nimule Road in
South Sudan under the Sudan Infrastructure Services Project. The road was the first paved highway in South Sudan and links the South Sudanese capital to the town of
Nimule on the Ugandan border. ==Organization==