Dr. Bernecker has been a lighting educator for over 40 years. He is founder of The Lighting Education Institute, providing professional education, and Professor of Lighting Design and Director of the Masters of Fine Arts in Lighting Design program at Parsons School of Design, The New School. Prior to founding The Lighting Education Institute, he directed the lighting education program within the Department of Architectural Engineering at Penn State University. He has published more than fifty articles on research and education in lighting design and illumination engineering and is known for his work on the psychological aspects of lighting. He also maintains an active consulting practice, providing lighting design services and serving as an expert consultant on many projects and as an expert witness on many legal cases. He regularly serves as a peer reviewer for lighting research proposals and projects sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
He further served for 15 years as Educational Facilitator for LIGHTFAIR International, coordinating the development of the annual conference program, and annually teaches an online lighting certification review course in preparation for the NCQLP LC exam.
Dr. Bernecker has served the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) as Vice-President for Technical and Research Activities (1991-1993) and Vice-President for Educational Activities (1993-1995). More recently, he served the Society in its highest office, as Senior Vice-President for 2003-2004, President for 2004-2005, and Immediate Past President for 2005-2006. As a result of his contributions to lighting education, the Society named him a Fellow in 1991, and for his service to the IES, the Distinguished Service Award in 2017. He also received the 2021 LIT Lighting Design Awards Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2024 Edison Report Lifetime Achievement Award