Confessions of a Chancellor

Dr. G. David Gearhart was chancellor of the University of Arkansas from 2008 to 2015, following 10 years of service to the university as vice chancellor for the Division of University Advancement. Prior to being appointed chancellor, Dr. Gearhart oversaw the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, the most successful capital campaign in Arkansas history, which raised more than $1 billion for academic programs. That campaign included a $300 million gift, which established the Honors College and endowed the Graduate School.With enrollment topping 28,000 students during his tenure and an 80 percent increase in diversity since 2008, the University of Arkansas was recognized by The Chronicle of Higher Education as the seventh-fastest growing public research university in the country and by U.S. News and World Report as an "up and comer" public institution. In 2011 The Chronicle named the university to its list of "Great Colleges to Work For," and in 2011 the Carnegie Foundation awarded the university its highest research classification.In 2015 Dr. Gearhart retired as chancellor, and the board of trustees named an iconic academic building on campus the G. David Gearhart building. The board also named the on-campus Full Circle Food Pantry after his spouse, Jane Brockmann Gearhart. He and Jane have been married 48 years and have two children and five grandchildren.