 His father, Waldemar Gjerde, was a professor of education at the University of Northern Iowa, but died when Jon Gjerde was young; his mother was a schoolteacher.Gjerde himself attended the University of Northern Iowa, and graduated in 1975 with a double major in history and philosophy and religion.He went on to graduate studies in history at the University of Minnesota, earning a master's degree in 1978 and a Ph.D. in 1982.