"AND THE MEMORY LINGERS ON"

Neely Gardner played a pivotal role in developing the National Training and Development Service (NTDS) for State and Local Government, originally called the Continuing Education Service. Gardner believed that NTDS should assume an action research and training philosophy and operational strategy because this approach changes behavior, impacts the environment, and achieves results. The NTDS program would encompass 5 major activities in its initial years: 1. information, 2. short seminars for managers concerning action training and research, 3. a training program involving operating managers and department heads, 4. a longer management development program for state and local managers, and 5. a program of experimental action efforts to emphasize action training and research as a management strategy. Although Gardner never led NTDS administratively, he was the intellectual soul of the organization and its most valued mentor.