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Walter Ray Gibbons, Ph.D.  1938-1997 Professor of Physiology and Biophysics

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Ray Gibbons will indeed be missed, not the least by Kermit the frogeye.

One of my favorite memories of Ray was the thread about using the Dremel tool to place "new" timing marks on an engine with a misaligned pulley.  At some point, someone (maybe Ray) remarked that some later buyer would pay a premium price when informed that this was a "rare transitional production" car or something to that effect.  This technique of  instantly increasing the value of your old LBC was quickly dubbed "Gibbonisation,"  and Ray took a lot of ribbing in his whenever the word "Dremel" popped up.

Here's a typical Ray Gibbons story from last summer ('96):

"When I was restoring Kermit the frogeye, I got a good laugh.  I had a parts bugeye parked outside.  Because this was an upscale, uptight country neighborhood, I went to some trouble to hide it.  It was covered with a brown tarp weighted around the edges; no part of the car was visible.  It was 150 feet from the road.  A woodpile 20 feet long and 4 ft high separated the car from my neighbors.  The road is bordered by a hedge, so the only clear view through is via the drive entrance off a road where the median speed is about 50mph.

"One afternoon, a strange car came down my drive and a fellow knocked at the door.  He said he was just driving by, and thought he recognized a bugeye under the tarp.  I couldn't figure how; he had to be the most eagle eyed fellow in town.  Except perhaps for me.  He introduced himself and told me where he lived (on a back country mountain road).  I told him there was an Alfa Guilietta in a barn near him; I had glimpsed one bumperette through a crack in the barn door.  "That's mine," he told me.

"I think this area has been mined out."

At long last, the temp in Burlington, VT, topped 60F (with sunshine) on Sat   and Sun.  I have sure grown tired of hearing how wonderful it is elsewhere.

I wiggled into Kermit the frogeye (his custom-built tax-free shed is close  quarters) on Saturday.  Switch off, I pulled the starter.  In about 10   seconds, oil pressure appeared, and I turned the switch.  Contact.
Despite 4-1/2 months of inactivity (save for a battery charge in January)   the engine fired immediately, the brakes braked, and the clutch   disengaged.  Love it when a plan comes together.

 I eased Kermit down the ramps, dropped the top while he warmed up, and I  was off for country roads.  Repeated again Sunday.  Love the wind in what  used to be my hair.  This evening, I think I will clean the oil off the  chrome.

BACKGROUND AND PERSONAL

• B.S., 1961, Washington University, Engineering Physics
• 1967, Ph.D., Washington University, Physiology and Biophysics
• 1967-71, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Chicago, Electrophysiology
• UVM Faculty since 1971

RESEARCH

TEACHING

• Cardiac Electrophysiology
• Cardiac Muscle
• Skeletal Muscle
• Water and Electrolytes

SERVICE

• Department: Undergraduate Education Committee 72-74; Graduate Education Committee, Chair, 76-80; Graduate Education Committee Member, 85-90; Promotions and Standards Committee, Chair 82-92; Ad hoc Committee for Long Range Plan 87-88;
• College: Graduate Education Committee 74-78, Chair 76-77; Accreditation Steering Committee 78-79; Committee on Instructional Improvement 82-84; Research Committee 84-86; Faculty Standards Committee 86-89, Chair 88-89; Accreditation Task Force on Faculty, Chair 89; Accreditation Subcommittee on Objectives, 89; Academic Honesty Panel Representative 92-95;
• University: Search Committee Electrical Engr. 75; Administrative Policy Committee 76-78; Review Committee Dental Hygiene, Chair 78; Committee on Retirement Plan Alternatives 84-85; Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee 90-94; Research Committee, Faculty Senate 91-92; Subcommittee on Research Misconduct 91-present; Animal Care Study 92-93.

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