When Michael P. Berry took over as director of Harvard Dining Services (HDS) in 1991, he was dismayed at the condition of the University's kitchen facilities.

"He said it was a terrible place to work in," remembers Leonard D. Condenzio, now the acting director of HDS. Berry's concern translated into action, leading to a major dining hall renovation campaign which is still underway.

This desire to improve poor working conditions is typical of Berry's focus on what Condenzio calls "both the internal and external customer," meaning the students who eat in HDS-run campus facilities and the employees who work in the University's food facilities.

It is this activist, customer-oriented managerial style that Berry will take with him when he leaves Harvard this month to become vice president for Food Operations and Concept Development at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif.

Origins of the Mealtime Messiah

Berry's five-year tenure at HDS came after a lifetime in the foodservice industry. Beginning at age 13, when he started working at a resort in his home state of New Hampshire, Berry used what subordinates and superiors alike describe as superb interpersonal skills to advance within the field.

After stints directing collegiate and corporate food programs at institutions like the University of California at both Los Angeles (UCLA) and Irvine (UCI), Berry applied to fill the HDS vacancy created when its longtime director, Frank Weissbacker, retired.

Berry was hired, acquiring a $23 million annual budget and 460 fulltime employees.

When he arrived at Harvard, he immediately hired several trusted subordinates from previous jobs, including Condenzio. Another import was executive chef Michael Miller, who had known Berry for 17 years and worked with him at UCI and UCLA.

Like nearly everyone who has worked under Berry, Miller credits the former director's success to Berry's ability to motivate his employees and to effect change with in the organization.

"Mike's always been a very driven person," Miller says. "He's a real visionary as far as food services in general are concerned."

"He's one of the few people I know who thinks about the business all the time," the chef adds. "If he's out at a social event or dinner, he's observing to see what works or what doesn't. He's analyzing, thinking, 'That's a really good idea, maybe I could try that somewhere."'

"We on the service side of the University all learned a lot from Mike," says Sally Zeckhauser, who as vice president for administration oversees HDS. "How to serve our customers, how to motivate our employees and how to be well schooled in our [other] businesses."

Employees say Berry really cares about them and the students, abiding by his own motto for HDS: "Give a Damn."

"He would come in sometimes and serve on the line," remembers Ron Cockcrost, the assistant manager at Adams House Dining Hall. "Every time he would walk through the dining hall, even if there were 100 students, he would talk to every one of them."