Dr. Mitch Berbrier

Professor, SOCIOLOGY Department

Biography

I am a left-handed and right-footed only child who grew up in a quiet suburban neighborhood near Montreal. I lived in a three-bedroom split-level house with my mom, dad, and maternal grandmother. For most of my childhood, my parents ran a neighborhood children’s shoe store, the kind of mom-and-pop local enterprise so rare these days.

I received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University in 1984, majoring in Accounting. Oops. I worked briefly in an accounting firm before returning to school to earn a second bachelor's degree, a B.A. in Psychology, in 1987. I then moved to Indiana for grad school, where I earned the M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology. After a brief stint in Milwaukee, I moved to Huntsville in 1996 to take a job at UAH. Here I have held a variety of positions -- Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor, Chair of the Department of Sociology, UAH Faculty Senate President, and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences. In 2017, after three years in the Dean’s role, I resigned to return to the far less stressful and potentially satisfying position of Professor of Sociology for the remaining few years of my career.

Family is extremely important to me. My mom still lives in Montreal. I am happily married to Melanie, with two children (Samantha and Jack), two stepchildren (Brooke and Jesse), and three crazy dogs (George, Octavian, and Atticus).

Dr. Mitch Berbrier's Curriculum Vitae

Education

  • Ph.D., Sociology, Indiana University, 1996
  • M.A., Sociology, Indiana University, 1990
  • B.A., Psychology, McGill University, 1987
  • B.Comm., Accounting, McGill University, 1984
  • DEC (Diplome d'etudes Collegiale), Vanier College, 1981

Classes Taught