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Obert Clark Tanner (September 20, 1904 – October 14, 1993) was a
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 ...
professor of philosophy, philanthropist, and founder of O.C. Tanner Co.


Early life and education

Tanner was born in
Farmington, Utah Farmington is a city in, and county seat of, Davis County, Utah, United States. The population was 24,531 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The Lagoon Amusement Park and Station Park (Farmington, Utah), Station Park transit-oriented ...
to Joseph Marion Tanner and Annie Vilate Clark. His mother Annie was his father's second (polygamous) wife, and they spent their wedding night apart because of the Federal government opposition to
polygamy Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...
. O.C. Tanner was the youngest of Annie's 10 children, and he would later publish her memoirs as ''A Mormon Mother: An Autobiography by Annie Clark Tanner''. It details how his father, exiled to Canada because of his practice of polygamy, was a fading presence in the life of his son. Annie struggled to survive financially, and O.C. felt a responsibility to contribute financially from an early age, doing odd jobs that included stoking furnaces at the university to pay his tuition. One of the persons whose fires he maintained showed him how to enter the jewelry business, and he started selling seminary graduation pins and class rings from the back of his car. He founded the O.C. Tanner Co. in 1927, while he was still an undergraduate —— a company that is now one of the largest manufacturers of retail and corporate awards in the U.S. He married Grace Adams in 1931. He completed his B. A. degree in 1929 at the University of Utah, his L.L.B., also from the University of Utah in 1936, his M.A. from
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
in 1937, and his J.D. degree from the University of Utah in 1967. He received numerous honorary degrees from Utah universities and colleges. The family foundation endowed the University of Utah Obert C. and Grace A. Tanner Humanities Center. Tanner took an interest in
Mormon studies Mormon studies is the interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary list of academic disciplines, academic study of the beliefs and practices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, beliefs, practices, Latter Day Saint movement#History, histor ...
and once offered
Fawn Brodie Fawn McKay Brodie (September 15, 1915 – January 10, 1981) was an American biographer and one of the first female professors of history at UCLA. She is best known for ''Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History'' (1974), a work of psychobiography, ...
, famous for her psycho-biography of
Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...
, $10,000 for a similar biography of
Brigham Young Brigham Young ( ; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until h ...
.


Professional career, awards and philanthropy

In 1927 he founded O.C. Tanner Co. by selling class rings and pins to graduates. A company that specializes in employee recognition and compensation services, they have offices in the US, Canada, and the UK. Before his appointment as professor of philosophy, he was an instructor in Religious Studies at
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
from 1939 to 1944. He was the author or co-author of 10 books, including ''New Testament Studies'', ''The New Testament Speaks'', ''Christ’s Ideals for Living'', and co-author of ''Toward Understanding the New Testament''. His autobiography ''One Man's Journey: In Search of Freedom'', discusses his views about his commitment to learning and freedom. Tanner was a recipient of the
National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...
and an honorary fellow of the
British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...
,
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
, and
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
. In 1978, he permanently endowed the
Tanner Lectures on Human Values The Tanner Lectures on Human Values is a multi-university lecture series in the humanities, founded in 1978, at Clare Hall, Cambridge, Clare Hall, Cambridge University, by the American scholar Obert Clark Tanner. In founding the lecture, he define ...
, which are presented annually at several universities in England and the United States. He enjoyed donating fountains, often to universities and hospitals, which can be found at the University of Utah, Stanford University, Westminster College, Primary Children's Hospital, among others. Tanner contributed enormously to Utah's cultural community, chairing the commission that planned the construction of Abravanel Hall, the Utah Art Center, and the restoration of the Salt Lake Capitol Theatre. He also served on the Utah American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, the
Utah Symphony The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving ...
Board, and the
White House Conference on Children and Youth The White House Conference on Children and Youth was a series of meetings hosted over 60 years by the President of the United States of America, and the first White House conference ever held. Under the leadership of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, ...
. Tanner collaborated with his friend Gordon B. Hinckley to create and endow the O.C. Tanner Gift of Music concert series which began in 1983 and continues. These free concerts, combining the world class talents of the
Utah Symphony The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving ...
and the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American choir affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It has performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for o ...
, build unity and enhance the arts in the
Wasatch Front The Wasatch Front is a major metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from Santaquin in the south to Pleasant View in the n ...
communities of
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
. Tanner was also an honorary fellow of Linacre College, at the University of Oxford, UK. Due to the generosity of both Tanner and his daughter, the Rt Rev'd Carolyn Tanner Irish, Linacre College have named a number of buildings, rooms (and a fountain) in their honour. These include, the O. C. Tanner Building, Tanner House (which was donated to the College by Carolyn), Tanner Room, The Carolyn Tanner Irish Room, and Tanner Fountain.


Personal

He died in
Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...
; and was buried at the Farmington City Cemetery. His daughter, the Rt Rev'd
Carolyn Tanner Irish Carolyn Tanner Irish (April 14, 1940 – June 29, 2021) was an American bishop. She was the 10th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah. At the time of her election and consecration in 1996 she became the fourth woman in the Episcopal Church t ...
, converted to
Anglicanism Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
and was the 10th
Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
of the
Episcopal Diocese of Utah The Episcopal Diocese of Utah is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States encompassing the state of Utah, other than the southeastern part of the Utah which is included in the Navajoland Area Mission. The diocese also includes a smal ...
. Although she was baptized and raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), Carolyn's Mormon baptism was recognised by The Episcopal Church, and in 1983 she was ordained as a Deacon, and then a Priest.


References


Sources


Google Finance article on O. C. Tanner Co.



External links


O. C. Tanner Co. Web site

O. C. Tanner Co. India Web site

Tanner Humanities Center Web site




{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanner, O. C. 1904 births 1993 deaths American Latter Day Saints People from Farmington, Utah Businesspeople from Salt Lake City Fellows of the British Academy Stanford University alumni University of Utah alumni University of Utah faculty Utah Democrats Tanner family