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In Memoriam: John “Jack” Vardaman
Gonzaga mourns the passing of former Board Chair and longtime Gonzaga supporter John “Jack” Vardaman. “Jack was a dear personal friend and the consummate Christian gentleman,” says Father Planning. “I am profoundly saddened at his passing. Eye Street owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Jack for his heroic leadership of the Gonzaga Board of Trustees during his years as chairman. He will be deeply missed by all of us who loved him and whose lives he touched with his wisdom, generosity, kindness, and grace."
Reprinted below is the citation that was read when Jack was awarded the St. Aloysius Medal in 2011. Thank you, Jack, for your many years of service to Gonzaga. We are forever grateful.
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John W. “Jack” Vardaman
Reprinted below is the citation that was read when Jack was awarded the St. Aloysius Medal in 2011. Thank you, Jack, for your many years of service to Gonzaga. We are forever grateful.
_________________
John W. “Jack” Vardaman
When Jack Vardaman was a boy growing up across the street from the golf course in Anniston, Alabama, he had dreams of one day playing in the PGA. These dreams seemed well on their way to reality as Jack proved himself to be an extraordinary player. At age seventeen, and on the cusp of making major life decisions, he found himself playing in the National Jaycees Tournament in Columbus, Ohio. On the course that day was another player named Jack. And this Jack hit the ball high. He hit the ball long. And he hit the ball straight. This Jack’s last name was Nicklaus, and watching him play convinced young Jack Vardaman that maybe a career in law was a better idea.
It was, in fact, an excellent idea.
After earning his B.A. degree at Washington & Lee University, Jack Vardaman went on to earn his law degree at Harvard University. After serving as a clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black, he then joined the noted Washington, D.C. law firm of Williams and Connolly. In a legal career spanning over forty years, Jack Vardaman has appeared in the United States Supreme Court and in state and federal courts throughout the country at the trial and appellate levels. More than twenty times he has been recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in America. His memberships in professional organizations include the American College of Trial Lawyers, the William B. Bryant American Inn of Court, Advisory Committee on Procedures to the U.S. Court of Appeals, the American Bar Association and the Washington and Lee Board of Directors. There are several more associations, but one of particular importance tonight is begun in 2002 when Jack brought his keen intellect and legal acumen to the Gonzaga Board of Directors. He has served as the Board’s Chairman since 2008.
By way of Gonzaga background, the Vardaman family first joined the Eye Street Community back in the Father Dooley years of the 1980’s. It was then that Jack and his wife, Marianne, decided to send their boys to Gonzaga, John, Class of 1989 and Davis, Class of 1991. As active parents, they were part of a resurgent Gonzaga, an experience that would provide valuable perspective for when Jack and his fellow Board members went about helping Father Allen Novotny revitalize the school’s campus as part of a three-phase Master Plan.
Having joined the Board when he did in 2002 put Jack in the unique position of being the only Board member to serve alongside Father Novotny for all three capital campaigns, The Greater Glory, In Medias Res: At the Heart of Things, and the current campaign, Keeping the Promise. As Board Chair, Jack worked closely with Father Novotny in establishing the campaign goals and providing outstanding leadership, beginning, as always, with his own outstanding generosity. At this time last year, in the middle of his third and final term, Jack was preparing to complete his service to the Gonzaga Board—a job exceptionally well done.
Having joined the Board when he did in 2002 put Jack in the unique position of being the only Board member to serve alongside Father Novotny for all three capital campaigns, The Greater Glory, In Medias Res: At the Heart of Things, and the current campaign, Keeping the Promise. As Board Chair, Jack worked closely with Father Novotny in establishing the campaign goals and providing outstanding leadership, beginning, as always, with his own outstanding generosity. At this time last year, in the middle of his third and final term, Jack was preparing to complete his service to the Gonzaga Board—a job exceptionally well done.
And then came the shock that saddens us still. Gonzaga’s President—Jack’s dear friend—Father Allen Novotny was called suddenly and unexpectedly home to God. The school administration’s first call upon learning of Father Novotny’s passing was to Jack Vardaman. Within the hour, he was on Eye Street, where over the next several weeks he would come almost daily to help counsel and console a stunned and grieving school community. He was, in a word, the school’s rock.
As hard as times were, a transition to an interim President needed to be made and Jack Vardaman would lead this critical effort. His first step was to meet with the Provincial of the Maryland Province, Rev. James Shea, S.J. to express the school’s desire that a Jesuit come to lead Gonzaga. But because of the lack of available Jesuit manpower, Father Shea could make no promises about sending a Jesuit to Gonzaga. It would take all of Jack Vardaman’s considerable persuasive skills, hewn before judges in courtrooms throughout the land, plus a healthy helping of Southern Charm, to convince Father Shea to allow Rev. Joseph Lingan, S.J., Gonzaga Class of 1975, to become the school’s thirty-fifth President. For the next several months, Jack, Father Lingan, and the Board of Directors conducted an extensive search and interview process in order to bring to Gonzaga a permanent President. Through their hard work and God’s grace, another Jesuit, Father Stephen Planning, S.J., was elected to become Gonzaga’s thirty-sixth President.
To fill out the story of Jack Vardaman’s accomplishments and contributions, we need to expound on what has been his life’s parallel passion- golf. The list of Jack’s golf accomplishments is as long, or maybe longer than those of his legal career. To name a few, he has qualified and played in four U.S. Senior Opens, and five USGA Senior Opens, including just this past September when he competed against a field of golfers many of who were twenty years his junior. In addition to his numerous accomplishments on the course, Jack is most proud of his volunteer work off it on behalf of the game of golf and those who play it. In the late 1990s, he became General Counsel for the U.S. Golf Association and later was named to the USGA Executive Committee, which makes all final decisions for the governing body. In addition, he helped found a program called First Tee to promote and expand youth golf, especially to those communities who would otherwise be unable to afford to play the game. When First Tee established a 10-tournament junior circuit stretching from Washington D.C. to Baltimore, Md., it was named the Jack Vardaman First Tee Tour. When interviewed about his involvement with First Tee, Jack said, “So many people in my generation learned the game from their parents…But we were lucky. There are tens of thousands, maybe millions, of kids out there today who don’t have that inheritance. What if we could just make that available, each one of us, to one or two kids? What a legacy that would be.”
Now, doesn’t that just sound like a Gonzaga Man for Others?
Jack, for your outstanding generosity and uncommon leadership, Gonzaga is honored tonight to bestow upon you its St. Aloysius Medal for Service to School and Community.
Celebrating 200 Years of Jesuit Education in the Nation's Capital
