| G. David Gearhart | |
|---|---|
| 5th Chancellor, the University of Arkansas | |
| Term | 2008 – present |
| Predecessor | John A. White |
| Born | June 9, 1952 Fayetteville, Arkansas |
| Alma mater | University of Arkansas Westminster College (Missouri) |
| Residence | Fowler House |
| Spouse | Jane Gearhart |
| Website | Chancellor's Office |
G. David Gearhart (born June 9, 1952) is the fifth and current chancellor of the University of Arkansas. He succeeded John A. White on July 1, 2008, following 10 years of service to the university in his capacity as vice chancellor for university advancement. As chancellor, Dr. Gearhart instituted the first tuition freeze in 24 years[1] and implemented a $220 million campus building renovation and refurbishment plan, as well as a campus-wide energy savings plan.[2] He has also undertaken a renewed emphasis on the arts on campus, including the establishment of the “All Steinway Campus.”[3] Under his leadership campus enrollment increased by more than 10 percent in two years, record research awards were recorded, and the university was reclassified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as RU/VH—“research university/very high,” the foundation’s top research classification.[4]
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In 1977, Gearhart was appointed the director of development at Westminster College and led fundraising efforts for the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library. He returned to his native state in 1978 to become vice president for development at Hendrix College. After four years at Hendrix, Gearhart was selected to be the director of development at the University of Arkansas. In 1985, Gearhart was appointed vice president for development and university relations at Pennsylvania State University, becoming senior vice president three years later.
While at Penn State, he launched a major capital campaign, which raised in excess of $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 Grenzebach, Glier, and Associates as senior vice president and managing director.[5]
Gearhart returned to Arkansas in 1998 as vice chancellor for university advancement at the University of Arkansas. In that capacity he was the architect of the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, a billion-dollar capital campaign that concluded in June 2005 with the University of Arkansas taking its place as one of only 13 public universities at that time to have exceeded a billion dollars raised.[6]
The centerpiece of this campaign was a $300 million gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, the largest gift ever made to a public university. The direct results of Gearhart’s leadership in this effort included the creation of 132 new endowed faculty positions, 1,738 new student scholarship and fellowship funds, dozens of new and renovated facilities and classrooms, and growth of the overall endowment from $119 million in 1998 to nearly $900 million by the time he assumed the chancellorship.[7]
In addition to his responsibilities as chancellor, Gearhart is a tenured member of the faculty in the College of Education and Health Professions, holding the rank of professor. A nationally respected expert in capital campaigns, he is the author of two books, The Capital Campaign in Higher Education and Philanthropy, Fund Raising and the Capital Campaign, as well as numerous articles.
Gearhart is also an advocate for the DREAM Act, which provides a path to citizenship for alien minors.[8][9]
Among his current professional affiliations, Gearhart serves as vice president of the University of Arkansas Fayetteville Campus Foundation, is a member of the board of advisors for the Arkansas World Trade Center, is a member of the Northwest Arkansas Council, and is a member of the advisory board of the Pryor Center for Oral and Visual History. He also is a licensed attorney in the state of Arkansas.
A native of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Gearhart is married to the former Jane Brockmann, whom he married in 1974. They have two children. Gearhart’s late father, George A. Gearhart, was publisher of the Northwest Arkansas Times in Fayetteville. His mother, Joan Gearhart Havens, lives in Fayetteville.