Full Name Roger Berkowitz Spouse(s) Lynne Berkowitz | Name Roger Berkowitz | |
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Occupation 1992, President & CEO, Legal Sea Foods Residence Boston, Massachusetts, United States Books The New Legal Sea Foods Cookbook, The Gift of Science: Leibniz and the Modern Legal Tradition Education Stanford University, Syracuse University | ||
Tedxeasthampton roger berkowitz the next generation of human
Roger S. Berkowitz is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Legal Sea Foods, a Boston-based restaurant group that has 33 restaurants along the East Coast of the United States. He started working in his family's fish market in the Inman Square section of Cambridge, Massachusetts at the age of ten and learned every aspect of the business until becoming President and CEO in 1992. He now oversees restaurant, mail order and retail operations.
Contents
- Tedxeasthampton roger berkowitz the next generation of human
- A tour of greater boston food bank with roger berkowitz
- Early life and education
- Leadership and boards
- Honors and awards
- Sustainable fishing
- Television show
- References
Since the 1990s, Berkowitz has narrated and appeared in many of his company's television commercials and other advertising. In his latest ad campaign, he runs as a faux candidate in the 2016 presidential election asking people to vote for him because he will immediately legalize sea weed upon being elected.
A tour of greater boston food bank with roger berkowitz
Early life and education
Berkowitz was raised a Jewish family in Waltham and Lexington along with two brothers, Marc and Richard, and worked at the family fish market along with his parents, George and Harriet. After graduating from high school, Berkowitz studied radio and television at Syracuse University and graduated from the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. During his time at Syracuse, Berkowitz hosted his own radio news show that covered local and national topics.
After completing his undergraduate studies, Berkowitz returned to Cambridge with the intention of working for a couple of years in the family’s business. The family's focus had changed from a fish market with an attached fried fish take-out to a full service restaurant.
Berkowitz later attended Harvard Business School's Owner/President Management (OPM) program, London Business School's Senior Executive Programme and the Strategic Marketing Management Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Berkowitz holds honorary degrees from Salem State University, The Culinary Institute of America, Newbury College, Johnson & Wales University, and Nichols College.
Leadership and boards
Berkowitz serves on the leadership council at the Harvard School of Public Health and its Nutrition Roundtable and is currently a member and past president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. Roger is a member of the Board of Directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Regional Selection Panel for the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.
Berkowitz also serves on boards for many nonprofits, including UNICEF, Boston Children's Museum, Environmental League of Massachusetts, Blue Frontier Campaign, Northeast Seafood Coalition, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
He is a currently a member of the Board of Overseers for Brandeis International Business School and serves on the leadership council at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Appointed by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Berkowitz sits on the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Panel.
Honors and awards
In May 2017, Berkowitz is one of the five people inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America.
Berkowitz was named a semifinalist of the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Restaurateur for the years 2009 - 2012, and was an inductee in the Nation's Restaurant News Menu Masters Hall of Fame in 2008.
Berkowitz was mentioned in the book Dare to Lead! Uncommon Sense and Unconventional Wisdom from 50 Top CEOs by Mike Merrill (Career Press), and Leadership Secrets of the World’s Most Successful CEOs by Eric Yaverbaum (Dearborn Trade Publishing). Berkowitz co-wrote The New Legal Sea Foods Cookbook, published in 2002 by Broadway Books.
Sustainable fishing
In 2011, Berkowitz criticized the placement of several species of fish on the "avoid" list of the advocacy group, Seafood Watch, saying that much of the science around sustainable fisheries was "flawed" and "outdated." The Boston, Massachusetts Legal Sea Foods restaurant hosted a dinner where several such species were served. New sonar technology for seafood stock assessments Berkowitz espoused is being tested by the Massachusetts government.
Also relative to the fishing industry, Berkowitz leads the Sonar Project Ltd., and was appointed to the Special Commission Relative to Seafood Marketing by the Governor of Massachusetts. He received the “Chairman’s Award for Distinguished Meritorious Service” by The Atlantic States Marines Fisheries Commission.
Television show
Berkowitz hosts a monthly television show on New England Cable News with his co-host, Larry Gulko, called “Inside the Brand". The focus of the program is on marketing and brand building from interviews with top CEOs.