John D. Gerhart

Dr. John D. Gerhart (deceased July 2003) "became the American University in Cairo's ninth president in 1998 after nearly thirty years of experience with the Ford Foundation. Dr. Gerhart, originally from Abilene, Texas, graduated with honors from St. Stephen's Episcopal School in Austin, where he won the Brewster Medal. He went on to received his B.A. in History and Literature cum laude from Harvard University in 1966.

"During the 1966-67 academic year, he studied at Makerere University in Uganda on a Harvard University Frank Knox Memorial Fellowship. After receiving his MPA from Princeton in 1969, Dr. Gerhart began his career with the Ford Foundation as an Economic Advisor to the Government of Botswana. Dr. Gerhart then worked as Program Advisor for Rural Development in Kenya for three years, before coming to Cairo in 1980 to work as the Ford Foundation Representative for North Africa and the Middle East. After five years in this capacity, he was named Deputy Vice President for Developing Countries, a position that he held until 1989. From 1989 to 1993, Dr. Gerhart served as Ford Foundation Director for Africa and the Middle East. Finally, for the last six years, Dr. Gerhart worked in South Africa as the Foundation's representative for Southern Africa.

"Dr. Gerhart is married to Dr. Gail Gerhart, a distinguished professor of South African politics and co-author of a seven-volume series on this subject. Among her fields are African politics and political theory, and she is also the Africa book review editor for Foreign Affairs, the preeminent magazine on international affairs. Dr. Gail Gerhart taught in AUC's political science department from 1980 to 1985. The Gerharts' daughter, Leslie, is a schoolteacher in New York, and their son, Nathaniel, is a naturalist working in the Amazon forest in Peru.“ Extended Bio

"On March 6th 2006, the inaugural ceremony of the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement was held at the American University in Cairo (AUC). The Center was established in honor of former AUC president John Gerhart as a means of institutionalizing philanthropy and public service in the Arab world."