{{short description|American sculptor}} {{Infobox person | name = Gladys Smith Gunzer | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1939|11|12}} | birth_place = North Wilkesboro, North Carolina | death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|06|13|1939|11|12}} | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = Metallist, sculptor | education = | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = Richard Sheridan Gunzer<ref>{{cite news|title=Weddings|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/60751835/|accessdate=18 June 2017|work=Newspapers.com|agency=The Bridgeport Post|date=25 November 1960|language=en}}</ref> }}
'''Gladys Smith Gunzer''' (November 12, 1939 – June 13, 2016) was a noted American metallist and sculptor. She was the first woman chosen to design an official United States presidential inaugural medal.<ref name="luce">{{cite web|title=Luce Artist Biography - Gladys Gunzer|url=http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artist/?id=29736|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum|accessdate=18 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>
==Biography== Gunzer was born in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina in 1939. She studied fine arts at the Women's College of the University of North Carolina, but left in order to raise her family. She was hired by the Medallic Art Company in 1972 and worked there until 1990, working her way up to senior sculptor and manager of the firm's art department.<ref name="medalarts">{{Cite web|url=http://www.medalartists.com/gunzer-gladys-smith.html|title=Gunzer, Gladys Smith|last=|first=|date=|website=Medal Artists (Dick Johnson's Databank)|publisher=|access-date=2016-07-09}}</ref> She then moved to Arizona and worked as a freelance medallic sculptor.<ref name="luce"/>
==Notable works== upright|thumb|1980 Winter Olympics silver medal *1980 Winter Olympics Medals<ref name="luce"/> * 1984 IEEE Centennial Medal<ref name="ieee">{{Cite web|url=http://eds.ieee.org/eds-millennium-medal-winners.html|title=Millennium Medal Winners|website=IEEE|access-date=2016-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913015417/http://eds.ieee.org/eds-millennium-medal-winners.html|archive-date=2015-09-13|url-status=dead}}</ref> * 2000 IEEE Third Millennial Medal<ref name="ieee"/> *2005 United States Presidential Inaugural Medal<ref name="luce"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/newstimes/obituary.aspx?pid=180471707 Gladys Gunzer obituary] * [http://www.medalartists.com/gunzer-gladys-smith.html Gunzer, Gladys Smith], in Dick Johnson's Databank of Medal Artists
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunzer, Gladys}} Category:20th-century American sculptors Category:1939 births Category:2016 deaths Category:People from North Wilkesboro, North Carolina Category:21st-century American women sculptors Category:21st-century American sculptors Category:20th-century American women sculptors
{{US-sculptor-stub}}