Obert Clark Tanner (September 20, 1904 – October 14, 1993) was a

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

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 Davis County, Utah, United States. The population was 24,531 at the 2020 census. The Lagoon Amusement Park and Station Park transit-oriented retail center (which includes a FrontRunner train station) are located in Farmi ...

to Joseph Marion Tanner and Annie Vilate Clark. His mother was Tanner's second (polygamous) wife, and they spent their wedding night apart because of the Federal government opposition to

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...

. 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 Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1937, and his J.D. degree from the University of Utah in 1967. He has 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 interdisciplinary academic study of the beliefs, practices, history and culture of individuals and denominations belonging to the Latter Day Saint movement, a religious movement associated with the Book of Mormon, though not ...

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, who 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 leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

, $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 his ...

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

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 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 same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. 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 University, by the American scholar Obert Clark Tanner. In founding the lecture, he defined their purpose as fol ...

, 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 Abravanel Hall is a concert hall in Salt Lake City, Utah that is home to the Utah Symphony, and is part of the Salt Lake County Center for the Arts. The hall is an architectural landmark in the city, and is adjacent to Temple Square and the ...

, 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 c ...

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 Gordon Bitner Hinckley (June 23, 1910 – January 27, 2008) was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from March 1995 until his death in January 200 ...

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

and the

Mormon Tabernacle Choir The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American choir, acting as part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It has performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for ov ...

, build unity and enhance the arts in the

Wasatch Front The Wasatch Front is a 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 approximately Provo in the south to Logan in the north ...

communities of

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. Tanner was also an honorary fellow of

Linacre College Linacre College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the UK whose members comprise approximately 50 fellows and 550 postgraduate students. Linacre is a diverse college in terms of both the international composition of its m ...

, 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: ''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 Riverside County by land a ...

; 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 is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

and was the 10th

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

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, less that part of the Four Corners region which is in the Navajoland Area Mission. It includes a small part of northern Arizo ...

. Although she was baptised 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