After 33 years on the PBIO faculty, Albert Berger joined the ranks of Emeritus Professor, effective July 1, 2011. Albert joined the department in 1978, was promoted to Associate Professor in 1980 and to Professor in 1985. Trained in chemical engineering (Bachelors degree from Cornell and PhD from Princeton), he worked as a research engineer for a few years before joining the faculty at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 1972, he began graduate study at UCSF and earned a PhD in Physiology.

Albert has won numerous awards, including a Ford Foundation Fellowship, a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship and a Fogarty Fellowship. He received two Javits awards (contiguous) from the NIH for his research on neuronal regulation of respiration. Albert co-authored a text book on Physiology of Respiration and has published more than 125 research papers. During his tenure as a faculty member, Albert taught many courses and served as course director on several occasions.

In 2000, Albert served as acting chair of the Department of Physiology & Biophysics. From 2001-2005, he was Vice Dean for Research & Graduate Education in the UW School of Medicine.