The road home : University of Arkansas common theme in Gearhart’s life
Posted on Sunday, July 6, 2008
When G. David Gearhart recalls his boyhood in Fayetteville, the University of Arkansas is a common theme.
"My best first memories are of how I thought how massive this place was and how big it was," he said.
His late father, George, was the general manager of the Northwest Arkansas Times, which brings up another UA-related memory.
"I remember one particular time when we got a huge snow, and my dad and I drove up to the newspaper and decided that we weren't going to publish that day. Or he decided, because the snow was like a foot deep," he said. "So we drove over here, and we got out and made a snow man on the front lawn of Old Main. I had to be 5 or 6 years old."
That prompts more memories, such as the time he saw his father's name on Senior Walk. His father also showed the younger Gearhart names of other family members - a legacy, if you will.
Gearhart is indeed making good on that legacy: He started his job as UA chancellor of Arkansas' flagship institution on Tuesday.
His climb to the position began with an educational foundation cultivated at home. There "was absolutely no question," Gearhart said, that he and his three brothers were going to go to college.
"My dad was a wonderful person. He had a wonderful mind, and he was well-read and, of course, was educated here at the university," he said. "I think he understood how important it was, if you're going to access the American opportunity system, you have to have a college degree."
Gearhart went beyond a four-year education. After he obtained a bachelor's of arts degree in political science and speech from Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., he came back to the UA and earned his law degree. He later earned his doctorate in education and higher education administration at the UA. His academic achievements also include being named a distinguished alumnus of his undergraduate alma mater, Westminster College in 1992, and the same year, was named a Fulbright Scholar and studied at Oxford University, Merton College, in Oxford, England. In 1996, he was named an honorary alumnus of Penn State, where he finished his doctoral course work in higher education administration.
Hometown ties Gearhart is married to the former Jane Brockmann, who he wed in 1974. They began dating while students at Fayetteville High School. She is another member of the family with a degree, in journalism, from the UA.
They have two children, Katy, a graduate of Penn State University, working as a speech pathologist, and Brock, a graduate of the UA who is a vice president for Merrill Lynch.
His mother, Joan Gearhart Havens, lives in Fayetteville.
Gearhart describes the relationship between the UA and the community as a very supportive one.
"I think that's a real blessing for me, as chancellor coming in, that we do have that very open relationship," he said. "I think we work really hand-in-hand in so many ways, and of course, in terms of Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas, it's a wonderful community for students to thrive in their educational pursuits.
"I think in so many ways it is an eclectic community, it is an open community, it is a community that understands the importance of diversity."
He said he sees that as an important signal for students," that this is a good place to pursue your education."
It is also a community of diverse opinions, and the UA's plans to try to purchase the FHS campus have raised plenty of them. Gearhart said his status as an FHS alumnus has not influenced him in the talks over that property.
"I really think that I can't allow it to influence me," he said. "I feel that my main responsibility is to do what is best for the University of Arkansas."
He said the UA Board of Trustees and UA System President B. Alan Sugg have put him in the chancellor's position "and charged me with the responsibility of keeping the university strong and viable."
"So what I have to do is try to do everything I can to make decisions that are going to benefit the welfare of the university, our alumni, the people that have a stake in our institution," he said.
"Having said that, we have a lot of people that are stakeholders in this university that also are stakeholders in the community and in the Fayetteville High School decision," he said. "So, obviously because of that I have an interest in what happens to the high school, and I have an interest in the faculty and staff who may have sons and daughters that come here to work and need a really viable high school."
The issue is not wanting to buy the property, he said, it is cost.
"Can we afford it without overburdening our students ? "he said.
"We think that $ 50 million is the appropriate number. We think that it is a very good offer, it is a solid offer and we're ready to move forward and form a contract."
He said he has reiterated to Fayetteville Superintendent Bobby New the UA's interest in the property.
"I'm very hopeful that the board of education will work with us on that figure," Gearhart said. "I think it's a good price."
He said the property could help the UA take care of some immediate needs, such as space for laboratories, intramural activities, a fitness center and parking spaces.
Higher climb As a young man, Gearhart began his climb through the higher education administrative ranks. His first job in higher education was as director of development at Westminster in 1977, leading fundraising efforts for The Winston Churchill Memorial and Library. A year later, he returned to Arkansas to become vice president for development at Hendrix College in Conway.
After four years at that institution, Gearhart returned to Fayetteville for the first time when he was selected to be the director of development at the UA. He spearheaded the Campaign for Books, which added more than 100, 000 volumes to the University of Arkansas Library.
In 1985, he was appointed vice president for development and university relations at Pennsylvania State University. Three years later, he was promoted to senior vice president, responsible for the external relations programs for 23 campuses statewide.
While at Penn State, he launched a major capital campaign that raised more than $ 352 million. Total private gifts to Penn State during his 11 years at the university surpassed $ 950 million.
In 1995, Gearhart joined the international consulting firm of the Chicagobased Grenzebach, Glier and Associates as senior vice president and managing director. In this job, he remained closely connected to advancing higher education because the philanthropic management firm has hundreds of clients in the United States, Canada and Europe.
Three years after joining the consulting firm, Gearhart returned to the UA to serve in the vice chancellor position.
He designed the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, which is the largest, most successful capital campaign in the state's history. It raised more than $ 1 billion for academic programs and increased the endowment from $ 119 million to almost $ 900 million.
Now, he has the chancellorship of the UA.
While Gearhart acknowledges that being chancellor is more a way of life than a job, he said he is up to the challenge. He has spent much of his life preparing for this moment.
"My responsibility in advancement, I think, really has prepared me well in that most, not all, of the major decisions that have happened here I've had at least knowledge of or had a role in," he said. "I've been lucky in that I started in higher education circles at a fairly significant level when I was in my 20 s, and I went to Penn State as a senior officer when I was 32."
And then there are his feelings about the UA.
"I've just got so many memories about the University of Arkansas, growing up here, and it's sort of imbedded. I feel sort of like it's been a part of my whole life."
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