After a nine-month sabbatical leave, James B. Gardner, deputy executive director of the American Historical Association, has resigned to pursue other opportunities in historical agency administration. In accepting his resignation, the Council of the Association commended Gardner for his devoted service and for his achievements in helping to develop and secure funding for special projects, such as the Guide to Historical Literature; in attracting new constituent groups and fostering a broader and more diverse membership; and in providing support for the AHA's divisions.

Over the past decade, Gardner has worked closely with a number of presidents and vice presidents of the AHA. Drew Gilpin Faust (Univ. of Pennsylvania), immediate past vice president of the Professional Division, said, "I must have served on hundreds of academic and professional committees, but I have never had the quality of staff support I received from Jim. Even as an administrator, he was a historian, for he helped us to see the relevance of our own and the AHA's past for the concerns of the present"

Gardner, who received his Ph.D. in history from Vanderbilt University in 1978, joined the AHA staff as deputy executive director in 1986. Prior to coming to the AHA, he served as director of education and special programs at the American Association for State and Local History. Gardner has served as editor, contributor, and author for several publications on history and history education, and he has spoken widely on professional and higher education issues. He has also served on a number of committees and boards, most recently joining the editorial board of the Public Historian. The Council of the AHA and all of those in the Association he has worked with join in wishing Gardner well in his new pursuits.