John Gibson

1926 - 2017

1926 - 2017
John Schuyler Gibson 1926 – 2017
John Schuyler Gibson, formerly of Winchester, MA, Brewster, MA and San Diego, CA, passed away in Chatham, MA on September 17, 2017 at the age of 91.
A Professor Emeritus from Tufts University, Dr. Gibson was for over fifty years an academic who combined his work at Babson College and Tufts University with extensive participation in international activity. At Babson from 1957 to 1963, he was the first chair of the Division of Liberal Arts and the first Director of Development. Among appointments at Tufts, where he served from 1963 until his retirement in 1995, were Lincoln Professor of Political Science, Director of the Lincoln Filene Center for Citizenship and Public Affairs, Adjunct Professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the Founding Director of the Tufts Program in International Relations. Additionally, in 1979 with colleague Professor Pierre Laurent, launched the academic program at the new Tufts Center in Talloires, France.
Dr. Gibson held directorships of the World Affairs Council of Rhode Island from 1952 to 1954 and of Boston from 1954 to 1957. His international activity included over forty years participation with the State Department's International Visitor Program and serving in 1979 to 1980 as chair of the National Council for International Visitors. He highly valued his associations with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the Atlantic Treaty Organization. He authored books in international relations and law, textbooks in inter-group relations as well as United States and Massachusetts government-sponsored studies.
Born in Kokomo, Indiana in 1926 and raised in Mansfield, Ohio, he was a graduate of Oberlin College, earned his master's degree in Political Science at Case-Western Reserve University and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in International Law and Comparative Jurisprudence. He was married for forty-five years to Edythe Rhorer of Kokomo, Indiana who passed away in 1996. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, of San Diego, CA, his children, David Rhorer, Meredith Eleanor Curley, Craig Bradley, Ross Schuyler, Emily Gibson Williams, Mary Parke Sharon, ten grand-children and three great-grandchildren. He served in World War II as a mid-shipman in the United States Maritime Service and United States Naval Service upon appointment to the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
With respect, no flowers, please. Donations in Dr. Gibson's honor can be made to the Brewster's Ladies Library, 1822 Main Street, Brewster, MA 02631 and/or the Cape Cod Hospital Healthcare Foundation, PO Box 370, Hyannis, MA 02601.
A memorial service will be held in his honor on Friday, October 13, 2017 at 11am at the Brewster Unitarian Church, 1969 Main Street, Brewster, MA. A reception will follow.