Joe Berg Science Seminars - History

The Joe Berg Science Seminars began providing enrichment to high school students in Skokie, Illinois, in 1957. It began as a challenge to encourage science and engineering students at the high school level through science projects and fair competitions in response to the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union.

In 1960, the program came to Jacksonville, Florida, under the sponsorship of the Southside Kiwanis Club and the Duval County Public Schools. Here, in 1963, a parallel Humanities Seminars began, and in 1983 independent school students were invited to participate.

The Jacksonville Joe Berg Society began to be sponsored by UNF in 2000 through the College of Education & Human Services (COEHS.) Sponsorship was transferred to the College of Arts & Sciences (COAS) in 2003.  Today, the Joe Berg Society is a community partner of UNF.