William Passavant Gerberding (September 9, 1929December 27, 2014) was an American educator. He served as president of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, and as Chancellor of the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

Biography

Gerberding was born in

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo ( /ˈfɑɹɡoʊ/) is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 125,990, making it the most populous city in the state and the 219th-most populous city in ...

. He was the youngest of four children born to Lutheran minister William Gerberding and his wife Esther Habighorst. He received his BA from

Macalester College Macalester College () is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 2,174 students in the fall of 2018 from 50 U.S. states, four U.S te ...

in 1951, and went on to earn an MA in 1956 and a Ph.D. in 1959 from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. Gerberding was a professor at

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

, and at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, where he was chairman of the political science department. He served as vice president of academic affairs at

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

in 1972. He was chancellor of the

and executive vice-chancellor at UCLA. Gerberding served as the 27th president of the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

between 1979 and 1995. His 16 years of service is the longest term of any president in the history of the university. He died at the age of 85 on December 27, 2014.William P. Gerberding, 27th president of the University of Washington
University of Washington

Memorials

In 1995, the 1949-built Administration Building at the University of Washington was renamed

Gerberding Hall Gerberding Hall (formerly known as the Administration Building) is a building on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle, United States. History The Administration Building was built in 1949 to house the University of Washington's a ...

in his honor.

References

External links

Biography

by

Margaret Holland Sargent Margaret Holland Sargent (born December 30, 1927), also known as Meg Sargent, is an American portrait artist based in Los Angeles, California. She has painted over three hundred oil portraits, including portraits of Tennessee Williams, Gerald Fo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerberding, William P. 1929 births 2014 deaths People from Fargo, North Dakota Macalester College alumni University of Chicago alumni Colgate University faculty Presidents of the University of Washington Leaders of the University of Illinois