Alumni Spotlight
Steve Berkowitz ’60: A Teacher’s Advice Six Decades Ago Still Guides Him. Now, He’s Giving Back.
Long-time English High School Association Board Member Stephen Berkowitz ’60, still recalls two memorable, hard-hitting but amusing quotes from history teacher Kenneth Johnson: “Get your brain out of first gear!” and “If you screw up, I will come down on you like Judgment Day.”
English High History Teacher Kenneth Johnson, shown here standing on the left, gave Berkowitz down-to-earth advice that has served him well for decades.
Steve Berkowitz, English High School Class of 1960
Steve chose to attend English High for two reasons: (a) He was impressed that it was the oldest free public high school in America and had a great reputation; and (b) Two of his uncles and several cousins attended and extolled its virtues.
After English, Steve earned an Associate Science degree at Newton Junior College, then his B. A. in Greek History at Boston University in 1965. He also earned an advanced certificate at the College of Christ the King, Oxford, London, and took 30 courses in International Banking at New England College of Finance. “I wanted to go into banking because it can be rewarding,” he says. “You learn how the economy works and banking teaches discipline, common sense and how to articulate your ideas.”
During his career, Steve rose to become Manager and Vice President of Foreign Currency Exchange at Shawmut Bank’s Logan Airport branch where he worked for 20 years. He also worked at US Trust and Santander Bank.
He recalls an amusing incident and brush with fame: “I was on my lunch break at Logan Airport, reading a book entitled The First Man in Rome about the early Roman Republic by Dr. Coleen McCollough. A woman passed and said: ‘How do you like my book?’ I looked up and it was Dr. McCollough! I told her that I was a Classics major in college and her book was one of the finest Roman history books that I had ever read. We talked for a while and as her flight was called for takeoff, she autographed a message in the book’s flyleaf. ‘Ave mi amici.’ (‘Hail my friend!’)
The Australian author’s Masters of Rome series consisted of seven volumes on the life and times of Julius Caesar. Her book, The Thorn Birds, became an international bestseller and one of the best-selling books in history with sales of over 30 million copies worldwide. In 1983 it inspired one of the most-watched television miniseries of all time.
Berkowitz is an avid English High supporter and rarely misses a Thanksgiving Day game against Latin. Shown here at English High’s victory over Latin in 2022 between (left) Steve Marder ’60 and Mike Thomas ’67 (right)
After retiring from banking in 2003, Steve launched a numismatics business specializing in the study and sale of ancient Greek and Roman coins. Coin collecting is an interesting and educational hobby, Steve says. “When you hold an ancient coin, you are holding a piece of history. Perhaps a beautiful silver drachma was dropped by a Spartan ally depicting the goddess Athena or a golden dirac of a Persian Immortal at the Battle of Thermopylae. In Italy, perhaps a Roman centurion lost a silver stater depicting the goddess Minerva.at the Battle of Zama which ended the second Punic War. History and immortality? You hold it in your hands.”
Offering advice to current English High students, Steve says his jobs with international banks provided opportunities to travel and he was fortunate to live in the United Kingdom for a while. Most of these jobs require fluency in French or German. He says, “Plan for a career as soon as you can and take advantage of all the wonderful programs and teachers at EHS.”
