Charles J. Berkel Memorial Scholarship
Spring applications will open April 1, 2025 (Fall for Berkeley)
At the DFI 32nd Annual Conference in October, 2007, Charles J. Berkel, chairman of the board of Berkel & Company Contractors, Inc., generously committed $1 million to the DFI Educational Trust to create a scholarship endowment fund. The fund was originally known as the Berkel & Company Contractors, Inc. Scholarship Fund. In 2013, after Mr. Berkel passed away, it was renamed The Charles J. Berkel Memorial Scholarship Fund.
A minimum of $50,000 is given in scholarships from this fund annually. Most of the awards go to civil engineering students attending any school or university in the United States as part of the Trust’s At-Large Scholarship program which awards scholarships directly to students.
A portion of the Fund’s annual disbursement is also gifted to three universities; the Trust hosts a dedicated application for the University of California at Berkeley , while the University of Illinois and the University of Houston determine their own recipients.
Award
Several scholarships, ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 each will be awarded in 2025. Awards may be used for funding tuition, fees, books, and/or educational living expenses.
Scholarship check, payable to the student, will be sent in August 2025 after proof of enrollment and other required information is received by the DFI Educational Trust.
University of California at Berkeley
One scholarship, in the amount of $5,000 will be awarded in 2025, to a student from the University of California at Berkeley. Awards may be used for funding tuition, fees, books, and/or educational living expenses.
The winner of the scholarship will be notified by the DFI Educational Trust on or about December 15, 2025.
Scholarship check, payable to the student, will be sent in January 2026 after proof of enrollment and other required information is received by the DFI Educational Trust.
Eligibility & Requirements
The Charles J. Berkel Memorial Scholarship is part of the DFI Trust At-Large scholarship program. Only one at-large application is required – submitting an application for any at-large scholarship will grant eligibility to the applicant for all at-large scholarships. Applicants cannot pick any single at-large scholarship and exclude the rest.
For full details on submitting an at-large scholarship, please review the at-large scholarship requirements.
Students at the University of California at Berkeley can fill out a dedicated application to be considered for a secondary award. There are no additional applications required for students at the University of Illinois or the University of Houston – recipients at these two schools will be selected from the at-large submissions.
University of California at Berkeley
The Charles J. Berkel Memorial Scholarship offers a separate award to individuals at the University of California at Berkeley. Students need to a dedicated application in addition to their at-large submission to be considered.
Please direct all inquiries and questions by email to scholarships@dfi.org.
*Scholarships are awarded based on standards that do not discriminate relative to the applicant’s race, color, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, nationality or ethnic origin.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be currently enrolled full-time (as defined by the school) in a graduate or undergraduate civil engineering program at UC Berkeley.
- The minimum GPA required is 3.0/4.0 (alternatively, a “B” or its equivalent).
- Applicants must demonstrate an interest in the deep foundations industry.
- Applicants must demonstrate financial need.
Required Documents
- Personal essay, no more than 500 words, highlighting why the applicant chose to pursue a deep foundations- related career, extra-curricular activities, leadership capabilities, long term plans and goals, and any special financial need.
- One-page resume, including work experience, honors, activities and organizations.
- One official transcript.
- Two letters of recommendation, one of which must be completed by a faculty member at the applicant’s school.
Submission Requirements
- All items on the scholarship application must be completed. Applications missing any of the required items will not be considered.
- The application and all supporting documentation must be submitted no later than October 31, 2024.
- The DFI Educational Trust will notify all applicants of the result of their applications on or about December 15, 2024.
- Applicants, as a condition of eligibility for being considered for a scholarship, must consent to their resume being posted on the DFI website for review by DFI members as potential employers.
- Applicants may be required to participate in a personal telephone interview with a Trust Board member.
- If selected as a recipient, as a condition of funding, applicant agrees to participate in a follow-up career survey that will be sent by the Trust at some point after the applicant’s graduation.
Charles J. Berkel (1925-2013)
Charles J. Berkel graduated from the University of Illinois in 1946 with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering. A year later he began his career in deep foundation construction working for Intrusion-Prepakt in Chicago. During his employment there he was the project engineer for the first commercial project supported on ACIP piles in the United States. In 1959 he resigned from Prepakt and started his own company specializing in Pressure Grouting and the installation of Auger Pressure Grouted (APG) piles. Over the decades, he grew the company to become one of the largest piling contractors in the U.S.
Some of his noteworthy accomplishments along the way are: designing and constructing of equipment needed for APG piles; 1996 business expansion to include a separate division for Sheeting, Shoring and Underpinning; patents for equipment, and tools for safety and efficiency in field operations; and development of the APG Displacement pile.
Berkel was a Charter Member of DFI, a recipient of the 2007 DFI Distinguished Service Award, and a major donor to the DFI Educational Trust Scholarship Program. He died on November 4, 2013, at age 88.
