Born in Kansas in 1927, John Berland (John Carter Berland, John C. Berland) earned a bachelor's degree from Fort Hays State College, Kansas, a master's degree from Tulsa University and a secondary master's from Tulsa University. He instructed in the Art Department at Fort Hays between 1957 and 1965 when he relocated to Colorado for a position in the Sculpture Department at Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins. Berland retired from CSU in 1996 as Professor Emeritus of Art.