David J. Berger, the mayor of Lima, will discuss “Valuing Education” in his commencement address at Bluffton University on Sunday, May 4. The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. in Salzman Stadium or, in the event of inclement weather, in the Sommer Center for Health and Fitness Education.

Lima’s mayor since 1989, Berger was re-elected to a seventh term in November 2013. He chairs the Lima Auto Task Force and Task Force LIMA, and is a board member for the Lima Allen Council on Community Affairs. He also serves on the Energy Committee and the Water Council of the United States Conference of Mayors, and is an Ohio Municipal League trustee.

The Mansfield, native moved to Lima in 1977 to become executive director of Rehab Project. The nonprofit, community development agency renovated several hundred houses and gained national prominence for training programs for prisoners, both male and female, who renovated single-family homes. Berger was the 1988 recipient of the National Association of Realtors’ Distinguished Citizen Award.

Among other honors, he has twice been named Visionary of the Year by the Allen County Visionaries, in 1997 and 2011, and received the 1999 Alumni Community Service Award from his alma mater, Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.