Gordon Everest

Honorary Membership Assigned: August 2025

Honorary Member • DAMA-MN

Rationale (What For)

Dr. Everest was a founding member of DAMA-MN, helping establish the chapter even before the creation of DAMA-International. A true pioneer in the data profession, he has spent decades advancing the fields of data modeling, database education, and information systems — and inspiring generations of data leaders along the way.

Bio

Gordon C. Everest, Ph.D., is a pioneer in the field of data management whose career has spanned more than five decades of teaching, research, and professional service. His journey began in the early 1960s when he wrote his master’s thesis at MIT on rapid data access, and continued through his doctoral dissertation at Wharton on “Managing Corporate Data Resources,” which later became a seminal textbook on database management (1986). Throughout his academic and professional work, Gordon emphasized that data—not hardware or software—is the true foundation for organizational success.

In 1970, Gordon joined the University of Minnesota’s Business School to help establish the world’s first MIS program in a business school. He developed and taught data-related courses that shaped thousands of future professionals, many of whom still consider themselves his “disciples.” He also organized one of the very first workshops for Database Administrators, underscoring the need for a dedicated data resource management function long before it became widely recognized.

After his formal retirement in 2004, Gordon continued to teach advanced data modeling until 2018 and made his entire course available online at geverest.umn.edu. Today, he continues to advocate globally for Object Role Modeling (ORM), a fact-oriented approach that captures business semantics more naturally than ER or relational models. His mission is to inspire a new generation of professionals to embrace fact modeling as the foundation for modern database and information system design.

Gordon’s influence extends well beyond the classroom. He has spoken at EDW, DAMA chapters, and industry events, and his expertise spans data management, DBMS, data warehousing, dimensional modeling, and the legal aspects of computing, including data privacy and intellectual property. Alongside his professional contributions, Gordon is also an accomplished singer with the North Star Chorus and Fourtold quartet, and enjoys activities such as pickleball and community music programs, bringing the same passion for connection and collaboration to his personal life as to his professional one.

Contributions & Milestones

1963 – Master’s thesis at MIT Sloan on rapid data access using indexing and hash addressing.
1965 – Doctoral dissertation at Wharton, “Managing Corporate Data Resources,” later published as a seminal textbook (McGraw-Hill, 1986, in print until 2002).
1967–1970 – Consultant at Auerbach, helping design and implement one of the earliest comprehensive database management systems.
1969–1979 – Member of the CODASYL Systems Committee, shaping early database management standards.
1970 – Joined University of Minnesota Business School faculty to help establish the world’s first MIS program in a business school.
1973 – Organized the first workshop specifically for Database Administrators (DBAs), defining the role of data resource management as a profession.
1990s – Collaborated with DAMA-MN leaders to design the chapter website and encouraged student participation in professional meetings.
2006 & 2011 – Received DAMA International’s Academic Achievement Award for contributions to DMBOK 1 and 2 — the only academic to be recognized twice.
2004–2018 – Continued teaching Advanced Data Modeling post-retirement, making the course wholly available online at geverest.umn.edu.
2010s–Present – Advocates globally for Fact Modeling and Object Role Modeling (ORM) as superior approaches to capturing business semantics and designing databases.
Ongoing – Frequent presenter at EDW, DAMA chapters, and professional forums, engaging data modelers in advancing the practice.
Ongoing – Active in music and community service through the North Star Chorus, Fourtold barbershop quartet, and Giving Voice Chorus for people with Alzheimer’s and their care partners.