I have just learned of the passing of Dr. David ÛÏDaveÛ Gibson, PE, PLS.
Dave was on the faculty of the University of Florida where he taught geomatics and surveying related curricula. Dave served on the Florida Surveying Board and for a number of years as NCEESÛª representative to ABET.
After a 4 year battle, Dave lost his battle with ALS on Sunday. Details about the funeral :
For those of you interested in the service the details are as follows:
Service: Evinston United Methodist Church (8505 SE 182nd Ave, Evinston, FL)
When: 10:30AM, Saturday Feb. 13
Visitation before service
Lunch and more visitation to follow service
I wanted to get this in everyoneÛªs hands since Dave impacted so many surveyors lives.
Didn't he used to write a history colum in Professional Surveyor?
Dave Gibson's obituary: http://www.ncnewsonline.com/obituaries/dr-david-wylie-gibson/article_808bb1f3-da05-5485-86e5-1979fab8a0d6.html
Dr. David Wylie Gibson, 71, of Evinston, Fla., passed away on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016, in Gainesville, Fla., after a long battle with ALS.
Dave was born in Youngstown on Oct. 5, 1944, to H. Donald and Josephine Wallace Gibson. He grew up in New Bedford, Pa., and was a longtime resident of Gainesville, having moved there in 1974 from West Palm Beach, Fla. He had resided in nearby Evinston since 1980.
He is survived by his loving wife of 42 years, Betty Fitch Gibson; his daughter, Amy (Ryan) Lovelady; his sons, Evin Gibson and William (Katherine Sayler) Gibson; his grandson, Landon Lovelady; his brothers, Bruce (Ligia) and Robert (Johanna) Gibson; and many wonderful cousins, nieces and nephews.
David was an avid musician, academician and active member of McIntosh UMC and Evinston UMC.
He began his academic career at the University of Cincinnati, where he received a bachelorÛªs degree in civil engineering, and continued learning through earning a masterÛªs degree in civil engineering from the University of Miami and a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Alabama.
He taught at Palm Beach Junior College and joined the University of Florida faculty in 1974, where he was integral to the establishment of the geomatics program and provided significant contributions nationally to that field. He remained at UF as a member of the faculty for 40 years, where he retired in 2008 as a professor emeritus in geomatics, but continued his love for teaching until 2014. He was able to fulfill a lifelong dream of performing research as a visiting research scholar in 2012 at Ecole Superieure des Geometres et Topographes (ESGT) in Le Mans, France.
His spirit and zest for life carried him through all of his endeavors even until the end. He had the Gibson eyes and a beautiful smile.
A celebration of life service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, at the Evinston United Methodist Church, 8505 SE 182 Ave., Micanopy.
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the Evinston UMC, Box 344, Evinston, Fla. 32633, or McIntosh UMC, Box 689, McIntosh, Fla. 32664.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Milam Funeral and Cremation Services, 311 S. Main St. Gainesville, Fla. 32601 (352) 376-5361.
While I never met the man myself he was held in high esteem by people whom he taught and otherwise influenced. I hate to hear of his passing.
Andy
Oh, goodness, I had no idea he had died. He was a good friend, and we taught a seminar on celestial observations decades ago in West Palm Beach. Wonderful man, low key but definitely a leader, and a strong surveyor. He sure knew his stuff.
I remember him. He was a strong advocate in bringing Surveyors out of the "Engineering" Technician category by setting up a standard in "geomatics". Controversial, I think but it is/was a good idea for rebranding the field as a technician for a "higher profession". A lot of other disciplines think of the surveyor as a kind of "sub-engineer" because of needing less math to do their jobs, and because we often do work for Engineers as our clients. He tried hard to bring us out of our collective identity crises.
He came to Colorado and discussed possible bringing our program out of the Engineering Sciences. He said that the general argument of why Surveyors aren't considered "professionals" by many States (including Florida if I'm not mistaken) is because it is a technical field of using measuring equipment vs. a profession that utilizes higher learning. (My apologies if I am not wording this correctly, but he was a strong advocate of Surveyors being "Professional")
May he rest in peace.
Oh Wow. I got a lot of OT because of him early on in my career. He convinced the county (Pinellas) to use LIDAR to update the FIRM maps. So after the county spent millions FEMA said thats not an approved method. So we (the county) spent the next few months ground truthing the LIDAR. Somehow he convinced FEMA to accept it and from what I understand it helped, forced them, to develop the standards for using it when updating the FIRMS.
