J. Jay Gerber (1914-1991) Papers, 1937-2003

John Jay Gerber was born on November 26, 1914 in Morton, Illinois. His upbringing was heavily influenced by the Mennonite traditions and values of his parents and grandparents. In high school, he worked as the editor of the Morton News, and he was a correspondent for the Peoria Star, and the Pantograph (a newspaper from Bloomington, IL). Despite these demanding jobs, he managed to graduate as valedictorian of his class in 1932. His undergraduate career was spent at the University of Utah, where he studied public relations and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He attended graduate school at Northwestern University’s business school, where he became the part-time assistant to Thomas A. Gonser, the director of the university’s public relations. In 1941, Gerber married Gladys Eittreim, a nurse at the Evanston Memorial Hospital. After graduate school, Gerber had a brief career (1942-1945) in the FBI, where he served as a special agent in Cleveland, New York, and Chicago. He then returned to Northwestern, where he found abundant success in the following years. In 1949 he was named the Director of Public Relations following the resignation of Gonser, and two years later, he was named the Vice President of Development and Public Relations, making him the third vice president of Northwestern University. Four years later, in 1952, Gerber left his official position at Northwestern to join Gonser’s business firm, later known as Gonser Gerber Tinker Stuhr, that specialized in public relations. Gerber, along with the other members of the firm, excelled in providing dispute management training to clients, as well as shaping standards of education and healthcare in the business world. Even with his new business and great success, Gerber still maintained ties to Northwestern University, serving as a regent and acting as a consultant to the university, particularly the newly developed alumni relations department. Gerber retired in 1984 to Davis, California. In February of 1991, Gerber had an honorary professorship in the Kellogg Graduate School of Management named after him. He died several months later on July 7, 1991.