Former Indiana Lawyer Doug Bernacchi Wins Prestigious Coca-Cola Foundation Scholarship to Study Ophthalmology

Picture of Former Attorney Doug Bernacchi

By Gabe Whitley Journalist at Hoosier Enquirer

Source: CT State Community College Library, Middlesex Campus News Middletown, CT

–Connecticut, Doug Bernacchi, a former Indiana attorney now pursuing a career in eyecare, has been named Connecticut’s 2025 New Century Workforce Scholar. The Ophthalmic Design and Dispensing (OD&D) student at CT State Middlesex will receive a $1,500 scholarship, sponsored by The Coca-Cola Foundation and Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society, after earning the highest score in the state.

The New Century Workforce Scholarship, a first-of-its-kind national award, supports students at associate degree-granting institutions—one for each state. Selected from nearly 2,100 nominees across 1,300 campuses, only one scholar is chosen per state based on academic excellence, leadership, and extracurricular contributions.

Doug Bernacchi will be honored at the Association of Community College Trustees’ Leadership Congress in New Orleans this October. “We congratulate Doug for this prestigious scholarship and are proud to partner with The Coca-Cola Foundation to recognize such outstanding achievements,” said Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner, President and CEO of Phi Theta Kappa. “Programs like this create vital opportunities for students to succeed.”

Bernacchi’s path to this accolade has been anything but conventional. Born in LaPorte, Indiana, he faced early struggles, dropping out of high school after a knee injury. He later earned his diploma in 1977 while working as a “ski bum” in Colorado, then attended Regis University on ski team scholarship transferred to Georgetown University in D.C., and then earned his MBA University of Notre Dame.

After a 15-year career in finance with Chase Bank and having an esteemed career in international trading in Chicago, during which, he earned a juris doctor from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1990, he returned to northwest Indiana.

As a busy Hoosier lawyer, Doug Bernacchi practiced bankruptcy law part-time, taking pride in “helping people when they needed it most,” while also serving as a court-appointed arbitrator and mediator. His life took a drastic turn in 2017 following a near-fatal, head-on car accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury, memory loss, and dyslexia. Unable to continue practicing law and never granted a hearing, Bernacchi and his wife had to relocate to Darien, Connecticut, to live with their oldest child, a Yale Health employee. There, a job in optical sales sparked his interest in eyecare—a field he connected to personally due to vision issues from his injury.

In 2023, he enrolled in the OD&D program at CT State Middlesex, where he now boasts a 3.95 GPA and aims to become a licensed optician. Reached by the Hoosier Enquirer in Darien, Bernacchi expressed gratitude for the scholarship and the chance to once again “help people when they need it most—this time with their eyeglasses and vision.” He envisions a sustainable career working for a high-volume eyeglass and contact lens producer, a role he believes he can pursue well into his 80s. Bernacchi was less forthcoming about his legal career in Indiana, which ended amid controversy.

As further background, Doug Bernacchi was a candidate for the 60th circuit court of St. Joseph County, Indiana in 2016, and defeated in the general election on November 8, 2016, losing despite getting 47,200+ votes. According to Ballotpedia, Bernacchi was also a 1992 candidate for the U.S. Congress. In November 2024, he was elected to the Darien CT Regular Town Meeting, which is the 100-representative legislature, known as the RTM, as a Representative for the 5th District.

In 2016, after seeking election to the Bench, he faced ethical charges and a one-year suspension from the Indiana Bar—weeks before the accident—stemming from a single client complaint. He claims the Indiana Supreme Court denied him due process after tricking him into accepting a plea offer, which resulted in a “one-sided” sanctioning hearing only “where state-sponsored perjury was allowed, and no defense witnesses were allowed to rebut the lies.” That cannot be justice he continued, refusing a hearing on the merits despite 27 years of competent practice serving thousands of Indiana clients, and even serving as a town attorney. “Certainly, the facts didn’t matter” in the case brought against him, he declared.

The single complainant, a Michigan woman he never met, allegedly attempted to extort him, and failed to appear in court despite subpoenas. Bernacchi alleges his initial plea agreement was mishandled, leading to a sanction he deems unjust. “If that’s the standard,” he said, “nobody should practice law in Indiana.” He also recounted a frustrating experience with Indiana’s Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program (JLAP), describing unfulfilled appointments and interference from legal figures in his medical care. Comparing his ordeal, a politically driven hoax, and to “lawfare faced even by Donald Trump.”

Bernacchi called it a “Kafkaesque nightmare” orchestrated by JLAP, Aaron Johnson, “a new DEI prosecutor” with the IN Supreme Courts Attorney Disciplinary Commission (which he said is “’unethical,’ selective and ineffective”), and its former Director, G. Michael Witte, during his bid to become a state court judge. Now an elected member of Darien’s Representative Town Meeting and its Budget and Finance Committee, Bernacchi has no plans to return to law or Indiana.

Alongside his ophthalmic studies, he works part-time as a real estate agent, focusing on his new chapter in Connecticut. The Hoosier Enquirer hopes to revisit Bernacchi’s story—particularly his Indiana Supreme Court case, which raises questions of fairness—for a future report. For now, his resilience and contributions make him a clear asset to his adopted state. About The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation: Celebrating visionary leaders who refresh the world, the Foundation empowers students through nationally recognized programs. Learn more at www.coca-colascholarsfoundation.org, https://ballotpedia.org/Doug_Bernacchi, and https://library.ctstate.edu/middlesex/campusnews/PTK-workforce-scholar