School Welcomes New Director of Development

The UNC School of Dentistry is pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Gardner as Executive Director of the Dental Foundation of North Carolina and Director of Development for the School. Gardner succeeds Wendy McCorkle, who previously held those positions for nearly 10 years. Gardner was born in Melbourne, FL, but has lived in North Carolina for all but five of his 34 years. He grew up in Raleigh and Mocksville, NC, and has gone to school or worked in Chapel Hill for nearly 13 years.

Gardner graduated from the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 1986 and was responsible for directing the School's development and alumni affairs program from 1989-98. As a student at UNC-CH, he was a sportswriter for The Daily Tar Heel and a student assistant in the Sports Information Office. He also was a sports staff intern with the Winston-Salem Sentinel and Journal during college.

Gardner was an assistant sports information director at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in 1986-87, assistant director of development at Georgia Tech in 1987-88, and assistant director of development at the University of Chicago in 1988-89. In June 1989, at the age of 25, he returned to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication as the youngest director of development at UNC-CH. Later, he was named assistant to the dean for development and alumni affairs and then was promoted to assistant dean for development and alumni affairs.

Gardner lives in Hillsborough with his wife Ronni, who is director of development and community events at UNC-CH.

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