Nancy Berge

Nancy Berge graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelor's degree in education in 1958. After working for several years as a public school teacher, Berge left teaching to focus on raising her two daughters. She took over management of Berge Ford when her husband, Craig, died in 2017. Berge negotiated and completed the sale of Berge Ford in 2019 to Larry M. Miller dealerships. Since then, she has managed other family business interests, including agricultural, industrial and commercial real estate in Arizona and California.

Berge created a scholarship for students in the University of Arizona College of Education in the name of her great aunt, Nancy Lee Anderson, and her family. The Berge family has also established endowed chairs at the university, including the Craig M. Berge College of Engineering Endowed Dean's Chair and the Nancy C. and Craig M. Berge Endowed Chair for the Director of the University of Arizona Cancer Center. The family also made significant contributions to establish an endowed directorship of the Steele Children's Research Center at the College of Medicine – Tucson's Department of Pediatrics.

"We both feel the University of Arizona helped us to find the right direction for our futures, and our debt will never be paid in full," Berge said of her and her late husband's lifelong commitment to the university. Her philanthropic contributions reflect her passion for educating the next generation of Arizona students and their teachers.

Berge is also generous with her time, serving on several university-affiliated boards. She rejoined the University of Arizona Foundation Board of Trustees in 2019, after previously serving from 2010-2016. She is the current vice chair of the board and is slated to become board chair in May. Berge is a member of the Arizona Cancer Center Philanthropic Board, an honorary member of the College of Education National Advisory Board and a founding member of the Phoenix Women's Board of the Steele Children's Research Center.

The Berge family legacy continues with Berge's two daughters, Charlene and Barbi, who have followed in their parents' footsteps and are active volunteers in several Arizona charities and public service organizations.

Berge also volunteers her time with several Arizona organizations outside of the University of Arizona, including the Mesa Educational Foundation, Mesa Symphony Guild, Desert Club of Mesa and the Mesa Museum for Youth. Berge has five grandchildren, including national rodeo star J.C. Flake. Berge often travels to see Flake compete.

Berge was University of Arizona Homecoming queen in 1956, and she received a Distinguished Service Medal from the College of Education in 1995.