Former Faculty Member Gail Berger Passes Away

Gail Berger, a former clinical associate professor in Northwestern Engineering’s Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences and the Master of Engineering Management (MEM) program, passed away Dec. 16, 2025, at age 50 after a long illness. Berger will be remembered for her commitment to education and her passion for helping students succeed and reach their full potential.

Berger joined the McCormick School of Engineering as an adjunct professor in 2005 and served in that role through 2016. She was then appointed assistant professor of instruction in IEMS, a position she held through 2019. In September 2019, she assumed a joint appointment as assistant professor of instruction in the MEM program and clinical assistant professor of leadership at the Kellogg School of Management. In spring 2020, Berger was promoted to clinical associate professor, effective fall 2020, a promotion that aligned with her transition to a new role at Kellogg. She continued teaching in the MEM program during the 2020–21 academic year.

Her research interests included negotiation and conflict resolution, decision-making, team dynamics and performance, organizational communication, and organizational culture.

She designed and taught leadership and negotiation courses for undergraduate and graduate students, including developing and implementing a team dynamics module for all graduate students in MEM. She also created and led graduate orientation activities. Berger’s contributions included developing a team dynamics module for all IEMS undergraduates, embedded in the department’s Client Project Challenge course, where students work in teams on projects sponsored by industry or nonprofit clients. 

“Students continued to request Gail's negotiations course, several years after we stopped offering the class. I personally reached out to her more than once for advice on handling sticky group project situations, and her advice has continued to impact the way I approach team evaluations,” said Jill Wilson, associate chair of IEMS. “Her presence was deeply felt in our department.

“Gail taught negotiations skills to working engineers in Northwestern's Master of Engineering Management program, and despite pushing them out of their technical comfort zone, it was frequently their favorite course,” said Barry Nelson, Walter P. Murphy Professor Emeritus of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences. 

“Professor Gail Berger taught passionately for the Master of Engineering management program for over 15 years. She was well loved and respected,” said Mark Werwath, director of the MEM program. “Even though she wasn’t an engineer, she was able to speak to the engineer and understand the leadership challenges and negotiation challenges that engineers have. Professor Berger always brought her best to the classroom, and she loved teaching for MEM as much as we loved having her. She will be sorely missed.” 

A 2003 PhD graduate of Kellogg who also earned a master of science in management and organizations from Kellogg in 2002, Berger became an adjunct professor at Kellogg in 2003, a role she held until 2016. In 2017, she was named Kellogg’s academic program director, and in 2024 she became a clinical professor of management and organizations. 

Berger was passionate about her role as deputy director of Kellogg’s Center for Executive Women. She led the creation and rollout of the Women’s Forums, redesigned the Women’s Senior Leadership Program, served on the Global Women’s Summit Steering Committee, and in 2021 initiated and designed a new program using poker to teach leadership skills.

The program, built in partnership with skills group Poker Power, garnered Berger media attention. The initiative was featured in outlets such as MSNBC, Reuters, and Bloomberg.

Berger also previously held appointments in the School of Communication (2015-2020) and the School of Education and Social Policy (2001-2017). In 2011, she received the School of Education and Social Policy’s Instructor of the Year Award.

Prior to Northwestern, Berger earned a bachelor of arts and bachelor of science from Boston University in 1997. She also earned a master’s of education in administration and supervision from Loyola University Chicago (2002). 

Services were held.