Obert was born September 20, 1904, in Farmington, Utah, the youngest of ten children of Annie Clark Tanner and Joseph Marion Tanner. He attended school in Farmington. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Germany from 1924 to 1927. He married Grace Adams of Parowan, Utah in 1931.
Obert was educated at the University of Utah, Stanford and Harvard. In addition to his Master's and Juris Doctor degrees, he received seven honorary doctorate degrees. Obert authored or co-authored ten books on ethical and religious topics. His teaching career began in Spanish Fork, Utah as an LDS seminary teacher. He taught religious studies from 1939-1944 at Stanford University, where he was the acting chaplain. He was a renowned professor of philosophy for 27 years at the University of Utah.
Obert founded the O. C. Tanner Company in 1927. His first manufacturing location was in the basement of his mother's home. As Chairman of the Board until his death, Obert presided over and directed the growth and success of the company for all 66 years of its existence. He was proud of employing more than 2000 people, often saying that the creation of jobs was an expression of religion for him.
Obert was Chairman of Utah's American Revolution Bicentennial Commission and a member of the National Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution. He was awarded the national Medal of Arts and the United Nations Peace Medal. He was elected an Honorary Fellow in the British Academy.
Throughout his life, Obert and his wife Grace and his company contributed generously to communities, universities, parks, the arts, and the people of the State of Utah. They were patrons of the Utah Symphony, Ballet West, and the Utah Opera Company. They endowed the biennial "Gift of Music" concerts of the Utah Symphony and Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and established the "Tanner Lectures on Human Values," providing annual ethics lectures at nine prestigious universities in the United States and England. They donated more than 40 beautiful fountains to cities, universities, and hospitals. The family name is perpetuated at Tanner Park in Salt Lake City, a beautiful park dedicated to the memory of Obert's and Grace's deceased sons.
(Biography quoted from the
The Obert C. Tanner papers consist of commencement addresses, programs, catalogs, and news clippings.
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Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Donated by Dr. Obert C. Tanner (box 1) in 1972.
Received from files in Marge Ward's office (boxes 2-3) in 1999.
Box 1, folder 8 donated in 2009.
Processed by Betsey Welland in 2013 and in 2014.
Audio-visual materials were transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections (A0306).
Commencement address given at Southern Utah State College
Commencement address given at Westminster College.