David Pierpont Gardner (March 24, 1933 – January 2, 2024) was an American university administrator, and professor who served as the 15th president of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

. He also served as president of the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

Biography

David Pierpont Gardner was born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, on March 24, 1933, to Reed S. Gardner and Margaret Pierpont Gardner. He married Elizabeth (Libby) Fuhriman in 1958. They had four daughters (Karen, Shari, Lisa, and Marci) before Libby's death in 1991. He married Sheila S. Rogers in 1995. Gardner was an active member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church) and contributed to the ''

Encyclopedia of Mormonism The ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism'' is a semi-official English-language encyclopedia for topics relevant to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, see also "Mormon"). The encyclopedia's five volumes have been digitized and ar ...

''. Gardner's bachelor's degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

, and

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

was earned at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

in 1955. He went on to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, to obtain an MA in political science in 1959 and a PhD in higher education in 1966. Gardner was appointed Assistant to the Chancellor at

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

, (UCSB) before completing his PhD, and accepted a joint appointment as Assistant Chancellor and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Higher Education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

at UCSB in 1967. He moved to UC Berkeley as the Vice President for Public Service Programs and University Dean of University Extension for UC Berkeley in 1971, then became the Vice President for Extended Academic and Public Service Programs in the Office of the President (UC system wide) in 1972. Gardner left the University of California to become the president of the

in 1973. Gardner stayed there until he returned to the University of California in 1983 as President. His wife Libby was named Associate to the President, and he worked with her closely. He resigned after her death in 1991 (effective in 1992), stating that he could not continue without her. He was given a controversial retirement package worth nearly $2.4 million. In 1983, Gardner was elected a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Gardner was then later elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1986 and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1989. He served as President of the

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, commonly known as the Hewlett Foundation, is a private foundation, established by Hewlett-Packard cofounder William Redington Hewlett and his wife Flora Lamson Hewlett in 1966. The Hewlett Foundation a ...

from 1993 to 1999. He became a professor of educational leadership and policy in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Utah in 2001. He was also the chair of

National Commission on Excellence in Education The National Commission on Excellence in Education was created on August 26th, 1981 by Terrel Bell. It was created to present the 1983 report titled ''A Nation at Risk, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform.'' It was chaired by Da ...

, whose members wrote the well-known educational document, ''

A Nation at Risk ''A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform'' is the 1983 report of the United States National Commission on Excellence in Education. Its publication is considered a landmark event in modern American educational history. Among othe ...

''. Gardner died in Park City, Utah on January 2, 2024, at the age of 90.David Gardner Obituary
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References

External links

* ttp://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt2r29q8ws&chunk.id=bioghist-1.3.4&brand=oac Biographical Informationbr>Guide to the David P. Gardner Papers
at The Bancroft Library
David P. Gardner website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, David P. 1933 births 2024 deaths Latter Day Saints from Utah Brigham Young University alumni Presidents of the University of Utah University of Utah faculty University of California, Berkeley administrators University of California, Santa Barbara administrators University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California regents Presidents of the University of California System People from Berkeley, California Latter Day Saints from California Members of the American Philosophical Society

Biography

References

Further reading

External links