Bernstein started as an office boy at Simon & Schuster in 1946, moved to Random House in 1956 and succeeded Bennett Cerf as President and CEO in 1966.
Beginning with Andrei Sakharov and Elena Bonner, he ensured that authors like Václav Havel, Jacobo Timerman, Xu Wenli and Wei Jingsheng were all published around the world.
His concern was deviation from the group's charter, which was to focus on abuses in closed societies lacking the free speech that creates internal pressure to improve human rights.
[2] The criticism opened a rift between Bernstein and Human Rights Watch, which was not healed until shortly before his death, when he was lauded at the organization's annual dinner.
[4] The fellowships are awarded annually to two or three Law School graduates devoted to advancing human rights protection around the world.