after leaving the israeli defence force in 1985, berman studied at the hebrew university of jerusalem. he graduated with bachelor's degree in computer science and economics in 1987, and in 1989 obtained a master's in economics from the same university. he then obtained a phd from harvard university in 1993; his adviser was zvi griliches. after graduation from harvard, berman became an assistant professor at boston university. he moved to ucsd in 2003. he and his wife linda have been married for 25 years and they have two children, ami (born 1992) and rachel (born 1995).