Alan Raymond Gibson

Alan R. Gibson died on August 3, 2024, in Phoenix, AZ from complications from pneumonia. Alan was born on July 1, 1943, in New York, NY, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1965. He then obtained a Ph.D. in Psychology from New York University working with Michael Gazzaniga, studying people with seizure disorders so severe that they had undergone surgery in which the direct connections between the two cerebral cortices had been severed to help control seizures. Alan then studied the anatomy and physiology of cerebellar systems with Mitchell Glickstein at Brown University. After stops at UC Davis and Northwestern, Alan joined the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, AZ, where he eventually became the Chair of Neurobiology. Alan's particular area of scientific interest was the brain circuitry that generates and controls our limb movements, particularly in the specific brain centers that produce arm reaching movements. Alan's scientific papers on this topic were meticulously researched and solid in their results. He published his last paper in March, 2023. The thought and effort that went into each of Alan's publications was unusually substantial, as all of his many co-authors will attest. After Alan's death, Jim Baker, Alan's friend and colleague since Brown, described Alan thusly when writing to Alan's partner:
Alan was loved and admired by many Alan was my mentor and best friend for those four years at Brown. We worked and played together almost every day of every week. From Alan I hope I learned some of the kindness and careful consideration he showed for everybody he encountered, from all walks of life. Alan was the only scientist among us who knew and was friendly not only with the other scientists, but also with all the administrative and custodial staff, everybody around us. He was open and inviting beyond any of the rest of us.
My first vivid memory of Alan was soon after our initial meeting. I was in the lab after dinner trying to make microelectrodes, an exacting and tedious job. Alan breezed in (sauntered in?), smoking a big cigar, and we exchanged greetings. I was very nervous, not really knowing this person I would likely be working alongside for years to come. I bumped into a cork holding some microelectrodes, and I bent their delicate tips, ruining them. Alan seemed unfazed by this, and lightly offered that I could be a "bull in a china shop." I was very embarrassed. Looking for a comeback, I returned with "A bowl in a china shop? That seems perfectly okay to me." I thought Alan had an east coast accent I could pick at. (I was the one with the big accent, north Florida style.) This was not a good start to our relationship. But it was followed by the years of learning science from Alan, a close friendship, and many good times together.
As much as I always had great respect for my official advisor, Mitch Glickstein, it was Alan who taught me the important factors in experimental science, as well as all the details. Alan's scientific strengths were in two areas, the practicalities of experimentation and the importance of judging the importance and reliability of scientific findings. Electrophysiology and neuroanatomy were entirely qualitative and example-driven in those days, so it was especially important to discern the biases and blind spots in published work. Alan was a master, and I like to think he passed a good portion of his expertise on to me. When it came to the practicalities, Alan taught me a lot of mechanical, electronic, and experimental procedural approaches to improving our studies. Alan introduced spike counting and interleaved trials to assess response strengths from single neurons, major first steps toward an objectivity that I believe we have yet to fully achieve.
Alan was a friend like no other. In addition to all the work and after work time we spent together, he offered me a place to stay for a month when I was between apartments. Of course, he made excellent dinners countless times. Alan's friends at that time were many and spanned a much wider range of personality types than I had encountered. From him I learned to be open about who could become a friend, and less afraid of people who were not like me.
Alan was an accomplished home chef, and his wood fired-pizzas were legendary among friends and family. He loved jazz and blues and hired local musicians for an annual Christmas party that friends from near and far came to for decades. Alan's stories, photography, kindness, and cooking brought happiness to many.
Alan is survived by his sister, Annabelle Rose; his nephews John and Justin Rose; and Susan Essock, his partner for the past 25 years.
If you would like to make a donation in memory of Alan, he was a longtime supporter of Doctors Without Borders and The Nature Conservancy.