FOUNDATION TIES Dr. Allison Gibbons • Recipient • Professorship in Science
BORN TO TEACH Dr. Allison Gibbons, assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition and Family Studies, may be the only McNeese State University faculty member who has used her teaching skills working with the Maasai [Masai] warrior tribe in Kenya, Africa. Dr. Gibbons is a native of Trinidad, the southernmost island in the Caribbean. Her mother, Dora, was a teacher and her father, Claude, was a police officer. Allison loved school and teaching from an early age. Growing up, Allison would tutor her siblings and her peers. She worked as an aide in Trinidad while attending teacher’s college after high school. Her first venture living on American soil took her to Wisconsin where she experienced a 100-degree turn in the weather. Allison received a Bachelor of Science degree in early childhood education and a Master of Science degree in home economics education from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie. She returned to Trinidad after graduation for a short time before signing on with the United Nations to conduct training worldwide. She trained physicians, social workers, teachers, and occasionally, even warriors. One of Dr. Gibbons more interesting assignments was working with the Masai warrior tribe, a semi-nomadic tribe of cattle herders. The Masia tribe is one of the few tribes still clinging to its traditional way of life. Allison’s job was to educate tribal members of the importance of sending girls to school. By tradition, only boys were educated. Dr. Gibbons and her team were successful in getting Masai girls in school, at least on a part-time basis. However, as soon as a girl reached puberty or marriage age, generally around 12 years old, they were forced to drop out. In between travels, Allison obtained a doctorate with a major in family studies and a minor in psychology from Texas Women’s University in Denton.
Dr. Allison Gibbons Traveling to exotic places through the United Nations assignments eventually took its toll. “I wanted to eat normal foods,” said Allison. Since her daughter lived in Pennsylvania, Allison decided to settle in the states. Remembering the frigid Wisconsin winters, she ruled out the north and settled in Louisiana. “Louisiana is very similar to Trinidad in its culture, its people and its food. Louisiana even has hurricanes like Trinidad,” said Allison. An advertisement for a position in the Department of Nutrition and Family Studies brought her to McNeese. Dr. Gibbons received a Professorship in Science for the project, “Qualitative Study of Employer Requirements in Career Opportunities in the Field of Family and Child Studies.” Allison researched job opportunities for nutrition and family studies graduates. She worked tirelessly to identify state and local family service agencies as prospective employers for McNeese graduates. She secured commitments from those agencies to hire student interns. As a result, the graduation-to-employment rate for nutrition and family studies graduates has increased significantly. “The agencies are very happy with our students, commenting, ‘Your students come into the position knowing what to do and they hit the ground running,’” stated Dr. Gibbons. Allison’s father gave her sage wisdom growing up: “Do not look for gratitude. You will get it when you least expect it from the person you least expect it from. Do good and good will attend you.” Katie Diana Williamson, a May 2010 graduate in family and consumer sciences, said, “I am very fortunate to have had Dr. Gibbons, or Dr. G, as an adviser and a professor. Her caring attitude combined with her passionate approach to teaching is precisely what encourages her students to develop their own passion towards their education and future careers. Dr. G inspired me to keep working hard at what I want and to never settle for less than what I am capable of achieving. I believe Dr. G to be a key ingredient in my past and future professional and academic successes, and I recognize her as a true asset to McNeese State University.” In Trinidad’s native language, Awawak, the island was originally called “lëre,” meaning “Land of the Humming Bird.” It seemed like destiny that Allison chose to settle at McNeese. When rummaging through a long-forgotten closet in Gayle Hall one day, she found a dusty framed portrait of a hummingbird. After a bit of refurbishment, it now proudly hangs in her office. 12