Gebhardt to become interim university counsel and trustee secretary

Deputy university counsel Michael Gebhardt has been appointed interim university counsel and secretary to the Board of Trustees, Temple President Neil Theobald announced in a press release today.

Gebhardt will fill the vacancy left by George Moore, who became university counsel in 1989 and secretary to the trustees in 1992. Moore, 67, died on March 2 of pancreatic cancer. During Moore’s absence due to his illness, Gebhardt had been performing some of Moore’s duties.

“At Temple, no one is irreplaceable, but George is as close as they come,” Theobald told The Temple News at Moore’s memorial service on Mar. 9.

In his new role Gebhardt will advise Temple’s trustees and its subsidiary institutions on legal matters including corporate governance, policy development, labor issues, commercial transactions and law interpretation.

Gebhardt served as deputy university counsel from 2011-2013 and associate university counsel from 2006-2011.

“What Michael brings to the Temple community and our leadership team is experience, stability and continuity,” Theobald said in the press release.

“Board of Trustees Chairman Patrick O’Connor and I value Michael’s professionalism and his broad-based understanding of the entire university enterprise,” Theobald said.

Prior to coming to Temple, Gebhardt was associate general counsel at Tulane University in New Orleans from 2003 to 2006 and was responsible for contracts, research, and the development and implementation of policy.

From 2000 to 2002 Gebhardt was vice president and associate counsel for Robertson Stephens, Inc., a San Francisco investment bank, prior to that he was an associate at San Diego-based Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich LLP, now part of DLA Piper.

From 1995 to 1997 Gebhardt was an associate editor for The Recorder, a weekly San Francisco legal newspaper. Gebhardt received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UCLA in 1992 and a law degree from Tulane University Law School in 1995.

“No one will ever truly replace George Moore,” Gebhardt said. “But one of George’s legacies is that his staff was well prepared to step in and serve the university he loved. I’m honored to have the opportunity to use what I learned from him for the good of Temple University.”

Joe Brandt can be reached at joseph.brandt@temple.edu or on Twitter @JBrandt_TU.