James H. GARDNER ³

  General Notes:

Former dean of U. business school dies


James H. Gardner, a former dean of the University of Utah School of Business and a member of the Kennedy administration, has died. He was 79.
Gardner died Thursday of heart failure on a Salt Lake City golf course.
He was born May 14, 1924, in Salt Lake City, the son of Hamilton and Pauline Herringer Gardner. Gardner graduated from East High School in 1940, received a bachelor of science in chemical engineering from the University of Utah in 1947 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Harvard University in 1951. He served in the Army during World War II, including a stint as parachute infantry officer in China for the Office of Strategic Services.
Gardner worked for 15 years in the National Research Corp., rising to executive vice president. On leave from there, he served in Kennedy administration as deputy assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering.
After 10 years as an executive with Armour and Armak companies, Gardner joined the U.'s School of Business as professor of management. He later served as dean. He received several honors, including the university's Distinguished Teaching Award in 1986.
Gardner founded the U. Business School's Global Business Program and helped to develop the Center for International Business Education and Research, a joint project with Brigham Young University.
Gardner also lectured at a number of Chinese universities and developed an exchange program between the University of Utah and Nankai University in Tianjin. Nankai honored him with a permanent appointment in 1991 as a visiting professor.
Among the boards he served on was the Steiner Corp. of Salt Lake City.
Gardner is survived by his wife of 53 years, Mary Ann (Middy) Palmer Gardner, three children, six grandchildren and a sister.
Services are scheduled today at 11 a.m. at Evans & Early Mortuary, 574 E. 100 South.

James married Mary Ann "Middy" PALMER.