Obituary:

A tremendously talented Texan

John Gerhart (1943 -- 2003)

The message sent out on Tuesday 15 July 2003 to the entire American University in Cairo (AUC) student, faculty and staff e-mail list was markedly sad. The university's President Emeritus, John Deuel Gerhart, had passed away in New York, after a lengthy battle with appendix cancer. Gerhart -- the son of an Episcopal minister -- was born on 21 July 1943, in Abilene, Texas, and had passed away at the age of 59, just a few days before his 60th birthday.

From September 1998 to March 2002, Gerhart had served as AUC's ninth president. He had resigned for health reasons, but as President Emeritus, he remained active, raising funds for the university's ambitious new campus in New Cairo. Gerhart had played a principal role in the establishment of the $250 million project, which aimed to take the university out of its urban setting in the heart of downtown Cairo, and transform it into a more traditional American campus, with plenty of green space and a wide variety of additional facilities. In fact, Gerhart's last public function in Cairo involved his presiding over the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new campus in February 2003, showcasing the campus's design to the distinguished guests who had assembled there, and assisting Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, an AUC alumna, in the laying of the campus's cornerstone.

Gerhart had received some of Egypt's highest honours. President Hosni Mubarak personally awarded him Egypt's First Class Decoration of Arts and Sciences. Moufid Shehab, the minister of higher education and minister of state for scientific research, presented him with a special award for his contributions to education. In June 2002, he received an Honourary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from AUC.

Easily recognised by his slightly southern accent, Gerhart's character and ideas reflected both his many academic degrees, culminating in 1975 with a PhD in Public Affairs from Princeton University, as well as the tremendous spectrum of his professional experience.

His academic expertise spanned English and French literature, African history, and political science. He was also a specialist in agricultural economics, authoring several books, before moving on to administration.

Before taking up his position at AUC, Gerhart was the South Africa representative at the Ford Foundation in Johannesburg. He began his 29-year-career with the foundation in 1969. Although his career mainly kept him south of the Sahara, as he moved from Tanzania through Kenya to Botswana, he was also no stranger to Egypt. Between 1980 and 1985, he was based in Cairo as the foundation's representative for North Africa and the Middle East, through which grants were used to fund many universities and projects -- including AUC's Social Research Centre, its Cairo Papers and the Desert Development Centre.

During his term as AUC president, Gerhart was known for being extremely diplomatic and helpful to all those who needed him. One of his important accomplishments was equalising the salaries of locally hired and foreign faculty members. His outstanding skills as a fund-raiser enabled AUC to generate the gifts it needed for both the existing and new campuses. Gerhart also initiated several new and innovative academic programmes, and was admired for his intelligence, leadership skills, sense of humour, and understanding of human relations. According to the AUC statement released last week, Gerhart was able -- via his extensive experience with Egyptians -- to understand Egypt and Egyptians, and cherish the country deeply.

In a previous interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, he had explained that the key to any change is enthusiasm. "I actually think that if you are not enthusiastic you cannot be a university president. You are going out and asking parents to entrust their children to you. You are asking donors to give you money. If you do not believe in what you are doing, then you should be in a different business."

Gerhart is survived by his wife Gail, his brother Harry, his daughter, Leslie Katherine, and his son, Nathaniel Gillam.

In the letter sent by Paul B Hannon, chairman of the Board of Trustees, to the AUC community, Hannon concludes by saying that "we have all lost a leader and a good friend." Students who attended AUC during his tenure, meanwhile, confirmed that "after all he has done for AUC, he will never be forgotten."

By Reem Nafie

C a p t i o n :
John Gerhart

Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 24 - 30 July 2003 (Issue No. 648)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/648/eg7.htm