William Passavant Gerberding
Portrait of William Passavant Gerberding by Margaret Holland Sargent
27th President of the University of Washington
In office 1979–1995
2nd Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
In office 1978–1979
Preceded by	Morton W. Weir (acting)
Succeeded by	John E. Cribbet
Personal details
Born	(1929-09-09)September 9, 1929 Fargo, North Dakota, U.S.
Died	December 27, 2014(2014-12-27) (aged 85) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Alma mater	Macalester College University of Chicago
Profession	University administrator, professor

William Passavant Gerberding (September 9, 1929 – December 27, 2014) was an American educator. He served as president of the University of Washington, and as Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Biography

Gerberding was born in Fargo, North Dakota.^[1] He was the youngest of four children born to Lutheran minister William Gerberding and his wife Esther Habighorst. He received his BA from Macalester College in 1951, and went on to earn an MA in 1956 and a Ph.D. in 1959 from the University of Chicago.

Gerberding was a professor at Colgate University, and at UCLA, where he was chairman of the political science department. He served as vice president of academic affairs at Occidental College in 1972.^[2] He was chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and executive vice-chancellor at UCLA.

Gerberding served as the 27th president of the University of Washington in Seattle between 1979 and 1995. His 16 years of service is the longest term of any president in the history of the university. He died at the age of 85 on December 27, 2014.^[3]

Memorials

In 1995, the 1949-built Administration Building at the University of Washington was renamed Gerberding Hall in his honor.^[4]