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Mercy College has received a generous donation from Robert Bergen ’03 and his wife, Erika, to fund an endowed scholarship in memory of his mother, Carole Bergen — longtime assistant professor of mathematics at Mercy College. The scholarship will support female undergraduate students studying mathematics.

“This scholarship honors my mother’s love of mathematics and her dedication of teaching three decades of Mercy College students,” said Bergen.  ” She was a pioneer in her field, and this will continue her legacy of empowering women to transform their lives through higher education and achieving a college degree.  One of her particular passions was to encourage women to study mathematics or computer science, two male dominated fields. In her search for better ways to reach students, she started math labs, adapted some key courses for an online learning environment and always worked at redoing courses to improve them.  Friends and colleagues described her as dedicated, enthusiastic, and compassionate, noting that she never cared about taking credit for her accomplishments, but always put the needs of her students and the college above her own.  Her energy and spirit were an inspiration to everyone she encountered.”

Carole Bergen — who passed away on March 26, 2020 — taught math at all grade levels for over 40 years and spent the last 30 of those years at Mercy College. As Carole herself explained in her self-penned obituary, “She loved teaching and never doubted her chosen profession as she saw math teaching evolve from blackboard and pencil and paper to computerized distance learning instruction.”

Mercy College is grateful to Carole’s son and daughter-in-law, Robert and Erika Bergen for their generosity and their commitment to the College’s mission. To contribute to the Bergen Family Endowed Fund please contact Katy Coppinger, Exec. Director of Development at Mercy College, via email at Kcoppinger@mercy.edu or give a secure gift online at and fill in the designation on the site.