A Family Name with a Statewide Impact

For more then four decades, Kem and Carolyn Gardner have shaped Utah’s physical, civic, and philanthropic landscape one project, one building, and one community at a time.

As chairman of Gardner Company since 2005, Kem Gardner has overseen the development of more than 35 million square feet of commercial real estate throughout the Intermountain West, including corporate offices, hospitals, retail centers, hotels, and industrial facilities. But even as his professional achievements transformed Utah’s communities and skyline, his parallel commitment to public service has left an equally lasting impression.

That commitment has now found a new home at Utah State University.

This fall, Utah State University opened the Carolyn and Kem Gardner Learning and Leadership Building, honoring the couple's generous gift to the university’s experiential “Learning by Doing” campaign. The 45,000-square-foot facility now houses many of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business’s hands-on learning programs, providing dedicated space for internships, industry projects, co-working, and other professional development opportunities for students.

“I have been privileged to know Kem and Carolyn Gardner and their family for more than 50 years,” said Douglas D. Anderson, dean of the Huntsman School of Business. “I know of no living couple who have done more to build our statewide community than Kem and Carolyn.”

For Kem Gardner, the opportunity to contribute to Utah State carries both personal and professional meaning. “Carolyn and I are honored to be here today and to see this magnificent building filled with students, faculty, and friends,” Kem said at the opening event. “Utah State has always had a special place in our hearts, and to know that our name will be tied to a place dedicated to learning, leadership, and the future of young people is deeply humbling,” he said.

At the 2023 naming event for the building, Gardner reflected on what it meant to see his family’s name join two other business icons on the Logan campus: Jon M. Huntsman and George S. Eccles. “I could get emotional thinking about the Gardner name next to the Eccles and the Huntsman. I helped underwrite the connection of those two buildings because I wanted those two great families to be linked together. I didn't ever think about connecting the Gardner name to it but I'm so grateful.”

"Utah State University is a gem in our community. Carolyn and I are so pleased to join many others in supporting USU so that generations of Aggies may benefit from world-class education in Logan and find ways to contribute and build our community"

While Kem's work in real estate may be the most visible part of his career, his leadership in Utah extends far beyond development. Gardner has served as chairman of numerous civic, healthcare, and cultural organizations across the state, including the Intermountain Healthcare Board, the Salt Lake Chamber, the Salt Lake Airport Authority, the Utah Symphony, and United Way of Salt Lake. His efforts have played a role in major community initiatives, from helping fund the Intermountain Medical Center and the Kem C. Gardner Transformation Center, to leading Olympic fundraising as chairman of the 2002 Olympic Ambassadors.

Education has also remained a constant priority. In addition to his service as chair of the state Board of Regents, he and Carolyn have been major contributors to each of the major public colleges and universities in the state, and their alma mater, the University of Utah, where they met, and where they helped establish the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.

Carolyn Gardner’s own story also connects deeply to Logan and the transformative power of education. As a teenager growing up in Logan in the 1920’s, Carolyn’s mother, Ellen Neilson Barnes, dreamed of studying music at the New England Conservatory of Music. To make it possible, her father went to the local bank and borrowed the funds to cover tuition. The loan would only cover two years of school, so Ellen petitioned for permission to complete the full program on an accelerated schedule. She successfully finished all of her coursework in just two years, graduating as the Conservatory’s top student and serving as student body president. That early experience of sacrifice, hard work, and academic excellence has continued to influence Carolyn’s own lifelong support of education and the arts—values she and Kem have carried forward while raising their own family of seven children and growing number of grandchildren, and in their shared commitment to expanding opportunities for future generations of students.

“I am so excited about this beautiful building. I love the architectural design. I love the openness, the great space that it has. It's really a gathering place for all the students—whether it be for study groups, individual studies, or socializing with one another,” Carolyn said. “The top floor is a wonderful place, with a beautiful view of Cache Valley out there. It's a great building and I am so happy that we are involved in this building now.”

For Kem Gardner, part of what makes this gift to Utah State so meaningful is the inspiration he’s drawn from others who have invested in the state’s future. “Jon [Huntsman] was a mentor,” Gardner said. “He, really more than anyone else, encouraged me to give back. He said, 'Do something major.' It was Jon who was encouraging me and pushing me and I'll always be grateful to Jon and his family." The new Carolyn and Kem Gardner Learning and Leadership Building reflects not just a contribution, but a philosophy and a method that matches the Huntsman School’s deep investment in “learning by doing.” As Dean Anderson put it, “Kem and Carolyn represent the very best that we hope our students will aspire to.