Former University of Utah president David P. Gardner has announced he will retire as president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation next year.
Gardner, 65, has headed the foundation, which focuses on an array of philanthropic causes from education and performing arts to the environment and U.S.-Latin American relations, since 1993.During Gardner's tenure, the foundation's assets rose from $819 million to nearly $2 billion, and annual grants increased from $34 mil-lion to $74 million this year.
A graduate of Brigham Young University and UC-Berkeley, Gard-ner has served as chairman of the National Commission on Education, whose 1983 report, "A Nation at Risk," sparked national debate on school reform.
He also serves on the boards of the Eccles Foundation and Huntsman Cancer Foundation and is director of Fluor Corp., Irvine, Calif., and First Security Corp., Salt Lake City.
Gardner's retirement will "for the first time in over a quarter century free me from the daily obligations and responsibilities of providing leadership to substantial organizations . . . (and) afford me the personal time that I wish to have for my family and friends and various professional interests while I am still in good health and have ample energy," he said in a prepared statement.