"As a result of this experience, when I left Chapel Hill I had acquired a skill I could put in the service of anything: the ability to find the right ideas and to communicate them to other people."

DAVID GARDNER
Hometown:Washington, D.C
UNC Honors Program Alumnus,
class of '88

An English major, David completed his senior honors thesis in creative writing. In 1993, with his brother and a friend, he founded The Motley Fool. Begun as a "contrarian" investment newsletter that just happened to come with an E-mail address, The Motley Fool quickly gained such an online following that the threesome was solicited by America OnLine. In August of 1994, David and his co-owners launched The Motley Fool's America OnLine area. Today, David is the head of an energetic young media company. The Motley Fool (the name derives from David's love of Shakespeare) has 90 employees, a popular web site, and is one of the most visited areas on AOL. A radio show and syndicated newspaper column are in the works. He and his brother have written two books, The Motley Fool Investment Guide, which Business Week listed as the best-selling investment guide of 1996, and You Have More Than You Think, which will be available in early 1998.

"The great benefit of a liberal arts education is that it consistently forces you to challenge the known and to embrace the unknown. So often truth lies contrary to what one expects, and a liberal arts education, in nurturing this awareness, prepares one to tackle the challenges of any environment one may meet. As a student in the Honors Program, I spent four years reading and writing about the unknown, the unfamiliar, the unexpected. As a result of this experience, when I left Chapel Hill I had acquired a skill I could put in the service of anything: the ability to find the right ideas and to communicate them to other people. Ten years ago there was no way I could have planned for the career I have today. The technological landscape has developed in ways no education could anticipate. And yet, the communication skills and the love of the unknown that I took from the University of North Carolina have given me the foundations to succeed wherever my interests have led."