Catalog
- Results include
-
Roberta M. Baumgartner : Interview for the John W. Gardner Legacy Oral History Project
Baumgartner, BobbiStanford (Calif.) : Stanford Historical Society, April 4, 2018Roberta M. “Bobbi” Baumgartner, who is retired from her work as an executive assistant at Stanford University, served as John W. Gardner’s personal assistant from 1990 to 1997 at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the School of Education. She discusses her connection to Stanford growing up and the development of her close working relationship with Gardner. She recounts different aspects of working for him and her memories of him as an employer, mentor, teacher, author, public figure, and family man. Baumgartner gives a detailed account of Gardner’s day-to-day work style. She describes the reading he did and his approach to speech writing, meetings, correspondence, and travel. Other topics covered are his teaching, mentoring, and consulting methods, and his “hobby” of quotation collecting, which sometimes included making up his own quotes and attributing them to a pseudonym. Baumgartner also mentions the many demands on Gardner’s time from those interested in leadership, personal renewal, and community building. She touches on their shared experience of growing up in Southern California, the sense of trust that he had in her, and the relationship she developed with his wife Aida and his children and grandchildren. Gardner’s assistance with and gracious support for her subsequent career move was invaluable and reflected his respect for women and their capabilities. According to Baumgartner, Gardner paced himself more in the latter years of their time working together due to physical issues, but not being a fan of retirement, he actively continued researching, writing, reading, and taking meetings. Baumgartner describes Gardner as a visionary--brilliant and positive--who saw possibilities in everything. She also observes that he was a great communicator and put much thought into mentoring the next generation. She expresses her hope that people will read about him and learn from him through this oral history initiative and, at some point, his yet-to-be written biography.
-
Roberta M. Baumgartner : Interview for the John W. Gardner Legacy Oral History Project
Baumgartner, BobbiStanford (Calif.) : Stanford Historical Society, April 4, 2018Roberta M. “Bobbi” Baumgartner, who is retired from her work as an executive assistant at Stanford University, served as John W. Gardner’s personal assistant from 1990 to 1997 at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the School of Education. She discusses her connection to Stanford growing up and the development of her close working relationship with Gardner. She recounts different aspects of working for him and her memories of him as an employer, mentor, teacher, author, public figure, and family man. Baumgartner gives a detailed account of Gardner’s day-to-day work style. She describes the reading he did and his approach to speech writing, meetings, correspondence, and travel. Other topics covered are his teaching, mentoring, and consulting methods, and his “hobby” of quotation collecting, which sometimes included making up his own quotes and attributing them to a pseudonym. Baumgartner also mentions the many demands on Gardner’s time from those interested in leadership, personal renewal, and community building. She touches on their shared experience of growing up in Southern California, the sense of trust that he had in her, and the relationship she developed with his wife Aida and his children and grandchildren. Gardner’s assistance with and gracious support for her subsequent career move was invaluable and reflected his respect for women and their capabilities. According to Baumgartner, Gardner paced himself more in the latter years of their time working together due to physical issues, but not being a fan of retirement, he actively continued researching, writing, reading, and taking meetings. Baumgartner describes Gardner as a visionary--brilliant and positive--who saw possibilities in everything. She also observes that he was a great communicator and put much thought into mentoring the next generation. She expresses her hope that people will read about him and learn from him through this oral history initiative and, at some point, his yet-to-be written biography.
Guides
Library website
Exhibits
EarthWorks
More search tools
Tools to help you discover resources at Stanford and beyond.