University of Virginia Library

Gibson To Succeed Quarles
As Engineering School Dean

By LAURA HAMMEL

John E. Gibson, Dean of
Engineering at Oakland
University in Rochester, Mich.,
was approved Friday by the
Board of Visitors to become
dean of the Engineering and
Applied Science School and
also named Commonwealth
Professor of Electrical
Engineering, effective July 1.
1973.

"We are very pleased that
Dean Gibson has accepted the
invitation," University Vice
President and Provost David A.
Shannon said. "He has
demonstrated at Oakland
University, where he has been
dean for seven years, that he is
a man of broad background
and interests."

"I am confident that he will
continue the able leadership of
the School of Engineering and
Applied Science." Mr. Shannon
added.

Beyond his work in the field
of electrical engineering, Mr.
Gibson has been involved in a
variety of other interests,
including the development of a
"Cadet Engineering" program
for minority group students in
the Detroit area.

Finding that by the ninth
grade students in public
schools were "turned off" by
engineering and the sciences,
the project instituted a
program of six-week
engineering camps at the
Oakland campus for black
students.

Mr. Gibson also works with
the Battelle Institute, a
research organization that
seeks to design a "New City"
of one million persons, using
modern systems of
construction, transportation
and development

Mr. Gibson is the author of
approximately 40 papers and
25 technical reports on the field
of automatic control. He has
written two books, "Nonlinear
Automatic Control" and
"Introduction to Engineering
Design,"and is the co-author of
the book "Control Systems
Components."

Serving in a number of
professional and honorary
organizations, he was past
chairman of the Nonlinear
Control Theory Committee of
the American Institute of
Electrical Engineers. He also
served as a member of the
Board of Directors of the
National Electronics
Conference from 1961 to
1964

In 1966 he was appointed
consultant to the Electronic
Research Center, NASA, in
Cambridge and he has
participated in establishing
research goals in high speed
transportation for the U.S.
Department of Commerce.

Mr. Gibson, a native of
Providence, R.I., received his
B.S. in electrical engineering
from the University of Rhode
Island in 1950, and his master's
and doctoral degrees from Yale
University in 1952 and 1956.

He taught at Purdue
University from 1956 until
1965, when he became dean of
engineering at Oakland
University.

Lawrence R. Quarles

Mr. Gibson will succeed
Lawrence R. Quarles, who
retires June 30 after serving for
more than 17 years.

Last April Mr. Quarles
received the University's
Thomas Jefferson Award in
recognition of outstanding

contributions to the University
and Albemarle County.

He received his doctorate in
physics from the University in
1935. In 1953 he was named
assistant dean of the
Engineering School, and
became dean in 1955.