Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
BERZINS, Mirdza Erika
BERZINS, Mirdza Erika. (Dubuque, IA-- ). The daughter of Talivalidas M. BERZINS "Tali" and Erma Berzins, Mirdza Erika Berzins was the acting director (1993-1994) of the MacArthur Fellows Program, of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in Chicago, Illinois. The fellowships popularly became known to be known as "the genius grants." (1)
A 1968 graduate of DUBUQUE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, Mirdza attended the UNIVERSITY OF DUBUQUE for two years before graduating from the University of Iowa with a bachelor's degree in English literature. She received a library degree from Columbia University and worked in publishing in New York until returning to Iowa City as a librarian.
In 1984 she began working for the MacArthur Foundation as a program officer in the fellows program. This provided unrestricted fellowships to "exceptionally talented and promising individuals who have given evidence of originality, dedication to creative pursuits and capacity for self-direction."
She later returned to Dubuque where she worked at the CARNEGIE-STOUT PUBLIC LIBRARY. (2)
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Source:
1. E-mail, Mirdza Erika Berzins, January 23, 2023
2. Bergstrom, Kathy. "Ex-Dubuquer Directs 'Freedom' Foundation," Telegraph Herald, July 6, 1993, p. 5A