David Pierpont Gardner papers
Collection
Identifier: ACCN 2006
Scope and Contents
The David Pierpont Gardner papers (1930s-2000) concentrate on his tenure as President of the University of Utah from 1973 to 1983 and his involvement promoting high educational standards to the present time. His papers include awards, correspondence, graduation collars, honorary degrees, reports, and news clippings. Also included are a small amount of family letters and the weekly planners kept by David Pierpont Gardner's wife, Elizabeth (Libby) Gardner, while she was the First Lady of the University of Utah.
Dates
- 1958-2000
Creator
- Gardner, David Pierpont, 1933- (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
Conditions Governing Use
The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.
Biographical Sketch
David Pierpont Gardner (b. 1933) was actively involved with President Reagan's Excellence in Education Commission. This commission was created in 1981 to study the decline in American schools and to design a viable alternative to what many felt was a cumbersome and ineffectual system. The prevailing wisdom was that America had lost her edge and much of her inability to compete in the global workforce was due to the lack of competent teaching, bloated budgets, and system-wide apathy. The results of the commission were in the report, A Nation at Risk, with which David Pierpont Gardner was intimately involved. He is the author of The California Oath Controversy (California, 1967) and coeditor of Higher Education and Government (1979). He published, Earning My Degree: Memoirs of an American University President in 2005. David Pierpont Gardner received his B.S. from Brigham Young University in 1955, his M.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1959, and his Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 1966. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, member of the National Academy of Education, and a member of the American Philosophical Society. Following his tenure as President at the University of Utah from 1973-1982, he became President of the University of California from 1983-1992. From 1993 to 1999, he was the president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. More recently, he served as the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the J. Paul Getty Trust from 2000 to 2004. Now in his retirement, he remains an active supporter of education.
Extent
22 Linear Feet (37 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This collection consists of the papers of David Pierpont Gardner, President of the University of Utah from 1973 to 1983. His papers include awards, correspondence, family materials, honorary degrees, reports, and news clippings. David Pierpont Gardner served as president of the University of Utah from 1973 to 1983 and as president of the University of California from 1983 to 1992. The Excellence in Education Commission was created in 1981 to study to design an alternative to what many felt was a cumbersome and ineffectual education system.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
16 boxes were donated in 2003 (8 linear feet).
15 boxes were donated in 2005 (12 linear feet).
1 box was donated in 2006 (0.5 linear feet).
1 box was donated in 2010.
15 boxes were donated in 2005 (12 linear feet).
1 box was donated in 2006 (0.5 linear feet).
1 box was donated in 2010.
Separated Materials
See also the
David Pierpont Gardner photograph collection (P0745) and David Pierpont Gardner audio-visual collection (A0024)
in the Multimedia Division of Special Collections.
Processing Information
Processed by Elizabeth Rogers, Samuel J. Passey and Michael Bills from 2003-2014.
Box 37 processed by Gina C Giang in 2024.
Click here to read a statement on harmful language in library records .
Box 37 processed by Gina C Giang in 2024.
Click here to read a statement on harmful language in library records .
Creator
- Gardner, David Pierpont, 1933- (Person)
- Title
- Inventory of the David Pierpont Gardner papers
- Author
- Finding aid created by Elizabeth Rogers, Samuel J. Passey and Michael Bills.
- Date
- 2006 (last modified: 2014, 2019, and 2024)
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository
Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu