Brenda earned her B.A. from St. Olaf College in Minnesota, an M.A. in History at Indiana University, a J.D. from New York University Law School, and an M.S. in Fire Protection Management from City University of New York. She has received numerous prestigious national awards and recognitions including the Susan B. Anthony Award from the National Organization for Women, a Revson Fellowship on the Future of the City of New York from Columbia University, the Distinguished Alumni Award from St. Olaf College, and the Women of Courage Award from the National Organization for Women. In 2006, Brenda was featured in a PBS documentary called "Taking the Heat" that chronicled the struggles of women to join the FDNY and her role in the process. She is certainly a distinguished and accomplished person and fire service professional. Captain Brenda Berkman is an icon in fire service history. I first met her between the time she filed her lawsuit in 1977 and being hired by the FDNY in 1982. Her tenacity, passion, and desire to be a firefighter in FDNY were palpable whenever we talked. We remained friends, and even though we didn't connect often, we would run into each other now and then at conferences and meetings and exchange career updates. She worked at Ground Zero directly following the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, and years afterwards volunteered as a walking tour guide at the 9-11 Memorial in New York City to honor her friends and colleagues who were lost and educate visitors. In fact, her story was featured in the book "Women at Ground Zero: Stories of Courage and Compassion." She is a wonderful, brilliant, courageous person and friend...and is an example of what persistence, tenacity, and drive can achieve in the career of a trailblazing firefighter.
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