For Mary-Elizabeth Eberhardt ’76, philanthropy and service are family traditions. Eberhardt, the newly elected chair of University of the Pacific’s Board of Regents, is the fifth in the Eberhardt family to volunteer as a regent, joining her grandfather, parents and uncle who previously served.

She and her late father, Robert M. Eberhardt, are the only father-daughter to serve as chair of the Board of Regents in the university’s history. 

“Philanthropy is something we've all been raised with from the time we were little,” Eberhardt said. “My grandfather used to always tell us, ‘what you give to the community and to people, you will always get back tenfold.’”

Eberhardt joined the board, which oversees the university’s finances, mission and strategic goals, in 2017. She was previously vice chair on the executive committee and chair of the advancement/alumni committee. She took over as chair when Norm Allen ’88, ’94 completed his term on June 30.

“Mary-Elizabeth brings such a vast network and understanding of Stockton, the Central Valley and its community,” Allen said. “And her family has such a long legacy of supporting Pacific. I love the fact that she'll be chair of the board when we celebrate our 100th year on the Stockton Campus. Her family has been such an important part of supporting Pacific for the time that we've been in Stockton.”

As Eberhardt puts it, her family “bleeds orange and black.” Four generations have attended Pacific, including her son Nevin Eberhardt-Sandstrom, and the Eberhardts have been part of the university’s leadership since 1953. The Eberhardt School of Business was renamed in the family’s honor in 1995 and the aquatics center was named for the late Douglass M. Eberhardt, her uncle, in 2021.

Growing up, she made frequent visits to the Stockton Campus to watch sporting events. After high school, she attended Pacific and majored in physical education. Since there were no women’s sports, she became actively involved in intramurals, playing basketball, flag football and other sports. The friendships she made in college have lasted more than four decades.

“My three roommates and our husbands all went to Pacific, and we're still very close friends,” Eberhardt said. A recent vacation to the West Indies (she loves water skiing and scuba diving) included one of her former roommates.

After graduating, Eberhardt began coaching and teaching physical education at East Union High School in Manteca.

“They technically hired me to be a swimming coach, but they didn’t have a swimming pool,” she said with a laugh. “I ended up coaching gymnastics, badminton, basketball. I coached just about every sport but swimming. They built the pool long after I left.”

After the passage of Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education, she was recruited to work at Pacific as the first marketing and fundraising coordinator for the newly started women’s athletics program. Terry Liskevych, the volleyball coach she helped hire, built the program into a national contender before leaving to coach the USA Women’s National Team. Pacific’s team went on to win national championships in 1985 and 1986.

After successfully getting women’s athletics off the ground, she switched careers. As the oldest Eberhardt grandchild, she felt drawn to follow her father and uncle into the banking business. Both were top executives at Bank of Stockton where her grandfather, the 6th president of the bank, had also worked.

As part of a family rule, Eberhardt got her start with another bank where she worked for several years before making the move back to Stockton. She now serves as vice president/director of consumer banking and has been at the bank for nearly 40 years.

Outside of work, she is heavily involved in the community. Eberhardt is vice chair of the San Joaquin Partnership, a non-profit economic development corporation. She is also a board member with the Children’s Museum of San Joaquin County and is on the board of trustees for the San Joaquin Historical Society.

Prior to joining the regents, Eberhardt was on the advisory committee for Pacific’s Eberhardt Student Investment Fund, a nearly $4 million investment fund run by students that was created by her uncle, Douglass M. Eberhardt, in 2007. She was also on the Community Involvement Program advisory board. The program provides scholarships and support for first-generation college students from Stockton.

She is now looking forward to her new role as chair of the Board of Regents. Eberhardt is focused on looking for ways to strengthen the university financially.

“It's difficult for higher education today throughout the country. I'm excited about looking at alternative sources of revenue. We've come up some with some great ideas that we are considering,” Eberhardt said.

President Christopher Callahan praised her commitment to the university over the years.

“Mary-Elizabeth brings incredible energy, leadership and vision to everything she does, and she is a wealth of knowledge on Pacific and our communities,” Callahan said. “I am thrilled to work with Chair Eberhardt on our goal of becoming the best student-centered university in the country.”

Eberhardt began her new role as chair July 1.

“The regents are an amazing group of people with expertise in any number of areas. That's what makes it such a great board,” Eberhardt said. “Whether they have a passion for Pacific, knew somebody who went to the university or just have a love for higher education, we want to make sure that we provide our students with the best possible student experience we can. That's what being a regent is all about.”

Family tradition of serving as regents

R.L. Eberhardt 1953-1963

Robert M. Eberhardt 1963-1994

Mimi Eberhardt 1995-1997

Douglass M. Eberhardt: 2000-2009, 2010-2013

Mary-Elizabeth Eberhardt 2017-current