Martha Bergmark of Jackson was honored with a Doctor of Public Service during Millsaps College’s commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 10.
Bergmark took up residence on the Millsaps College campus at the age of 4, when her father, Robert Bergmark, began his 35-year tenure with the College. She is president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Justice, a nonprofit, public interest law firm committed to advancing racial and economic justice statewide.
“Some people have a special ability to see clearly the needs of the world. Martha Bergmark is one of those people,” said Millsaps College President Dr. Frances Lucas during the outdoor ceremony.
Lucas also lauded Bergmark for her work as a progressive attorney whose vision of justice has spurred trailblazing work for the advancement of racial, economic, and public interest justice in Mississippi and across the nation.
The Jackson native’s work with the MCJ is the latest chapter in a legal career dedicated to the public interest. She was previously president of the Legal Services Corporation, the nonprofit corporation established by Congress to administer federal funds for legal aid to low-income people. She was senior vice president of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and directed the Soros and Ford Foundation-funded Project for the Future of Equal Justice, where she advanced a vision of fulfilling America’s promise of justice for all as an achievable goal.
Bergmark began her legal career in Hattiesburg, where, with her husband Elliott Andalman, she practiced civil rights law and was founding executive director of Southeast Mississippi Legal Services. She is a graduate of Murrah High School and holds a B.A. from Oberlin College and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.
