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The death of
Professor Martin Gibbs on July 24, 2006, saddens the community of
plant physiologists and scientists worldwide. Professor Gibbs’s
wake and funeral were held July 27 and 28. He was buried in a wooded
glen beside his beloved wife Karen, who died April 7, 2006, in Westview
Cemetery, Lexington, Massachusetts.
An active member
of ASPP/ASPB for more than half a century, Professor Gibbs edited
Plant Physiology for three decades (1963–1992) while
simultaneously, in his quite personal manner, skillfully promoting
the research and educational career activities of a host of plant
scientists both in the United States and abroad. During his editorship,
Plant Physiology became “the place to publish”
as the journal rose to become the premier publication in plant biology.
The prestige of publishing in Plant Physiology, with its
rigorous peer review process, was a great boost for many scientists
as they built their careers, garnered support funds, and obtained
professional positions. For decades Marty Gibbs was a vigorous influence
within the ASPP community. He served on the Executive Committee
for many years and offered experienced wisdom at moments of decision.
The Society grew consistently during his tenure, and the journal
expanded from a single volume to three volumes annually while the
numbers of published papers rose from about 175 to well over 600.
He began nudging the journal internationally as well, appointing
Gleb Krotkov as the first non–U.S. citizen to the editorial
board and increasing submissions from outside the United states
from 300 in 1984 to over 600 in 1991.
When one surveys
the activities of Professor Gibbs regarding the field of plant physiology,
his breadth of knowledge and myriad beneficial actions are humbling.
He was an engaging conversationalist and delighted in finding and
verbalizing the humor in every event and situation. Many students
and others who worked in his Brandeis University lab will remember
him sitting at his unpretentious little round metallic coffee table
coming up with amusing comments about the events of the day and
occasionally relaxing with his cigar. He particularly loved to talk
and visit with young people; he went out of his way to make such
opportunities at numerous professional meetings and in teaching
situations. He traveled to many countries, especially into Soviet-dominated
places, to give his personal support, advice, and encouragement.
His warm, personable manner was so readily evident, making him admired
and trusted by scientists around the world. Gleb and Valentina Krotkov,
both Russian immigrants to Canada, became his close friends. Marty
and Karen formed lifelong friendships here at home, too, notably
with Eli and Louise Romanoff, Bob and Eileen Rabson, Mack and Dot
Dugger, Tony and Alice San Pietro, and Bill and Winifred Klein,
all of whom strongly supported plant research. Over the years these
couples often visited, shared ideas and news, and informally evaluated
the progress and status of plant biology.
Professor Gibbs
was in every deed a compassionate patriarch of plant physiologists.
He worked exhaustively to promote the efforts of plant scientists
by organizing conferences, seminars, meetings, proceedings, and
many publications. There are few plant physiologists during the
past four decades who did not benefit, often perhaps unknowingly,
from the constant widespread attentiveness of Martin Gibbs toward
plant research and education. He was a patriarch for plant physiology
personally and professionally.
The compassion
of Martin and Karen Gibbs for each other is legendary. “Isn’t
she beautiful?” he would say as he gently squeezed her smiling
face between his hands. Karen was afflicted with multiple sclerosis
for the last four decades of her life and confined to a wheelchair
the last 30 years; yet Martin carried her around the world with
him. Countless persons witnessed their tender devotion. One memorable
trip helps illuminate that devotion: During the 50th anniversary
year of D-Day at Normandy, Martin and Karen, myself and my wife
Betty, and Marie-Louise Champigny gathered in Paris and drove to
Normandy for a week’s visit. The genesis of the visit was that
Martin’s brother Sol Gibbs had landed on the beach, and my
father had piloted a Landing Ship Tank onto the beach during the
D-Day invasion. We wanted to experience memories of Normandy events
and to search for the landing places of our relatives. In a highly
memorable and emotional scene, we carried and pushed Karen along
our way among the cliffs, emptied bunkers, and beaches of Normandy;
indeed, we stood at Sol’s landing site and at locations of
the naval armada. The mutual devotion of Karen and Martin was evident.
As a scientist
Dr. Gibbs was one of the most persistent persons at conducting plant
biology research in the 20th century. After he graduated from the
University of Illinois in 1947, the distinguished plant physiologist
Professor Kenneth Thimann at Harvard University recommended him
to the Brookhaven National Laboratory to work with 14C
labeling and purifying plant sugars. His production of 14C-labeled
sugars from plants for world distribution led to many famous biochemistry
labs working on carbon metabolism (H. Gest, I. C. Gunsalus, W. A.
Wood, R. D. DeMoss, B. L. Horecker, S. Ochoa, F. Lynen, H. Beevers,
O. Kandler). This research established him as an outstanding biochemist
and helped establish the anaerobic pentose phosphate pathway and
the Entner-Doudoroff pathway of glucose breakdown. Intensive research
was also under way in several places to discover how photosynthesis
captured CO2 and synthesized sugars. As the now-well-known
reductive C3 or Calvin/Benson/Bassham cycle was being
elucidated and debated, Dr. Gibbs, working with Otto Kandler, discovered
that the sugars of photosynthesis were asymmetrically labeled during
14CO2 fixation rather than symmetrically labeled
as predicted by the proposed C3 cycle. He tenaciously
pursued explanations for the asymmetrically labeled sugars for about
four decades. Essentially every student he trained had to learn
quantitative biochemistry by laboriously degrading sugars carbon
by carbon! After a decade at Brookhaven (1947–1956), he and
his growing family (two children were born on Long Island; two in
Ithaca, New York; and one in Cambridge, Massachusetts) moved to
Cornell University (1957–1964), where his aptitude for inspiring,
teaching, and training students was honed. By that time, photosynthesis
research had broadened into a variety of biochemical discoveries
related to photophosphorylation, electron transport, and light capture.
In the midst of that intense research, Aubrey Naylor in 1962 asked
Dr. Gibbs to become the editor-in-chief of Plant Physiology
and he accepted that role, a role that lasted much longer than Martin
or his students ever imagined it would! With his research in full
bloom and the editor’s responsibilities looming, the Gibbs
Family moved to Brandeis University (1964–1993), where Martin
became the Abraham S. and Gertrude Berg Professor of Biology and
served as chair of the Department of Biology for three years.
As the new
editor of Plant Physiology, Dr. Gibbs naturally focused his
strong inclination toward biochemistry on journal manuscripts. Subsequently,
Plant Physiology articles evolved with more rigorous biochemical
approaches to understanding plants. An explosive research growth
occurred in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s that strongly
engulfed the Society and the journal. The field of plant physiology
became more heavily funded and attracted more students. In the fall
of 1962, the journal received about 200 papers per year and was
printed in six issues with about 800 pages total. By 1991 it received
1,300 manuscripts and was printed in 12 issues with a grand total
of approximately 5,000 pages and a press run of 5,500 copies. According
to surveys (e.g., Current Contents), Plant Physiology
was the most quoted and considered to be the most prestigious plant
journal in the world. Clearly the workload increased greatly as
the number of manuscripts increased. Professor Gibbs received and
made decisions on all manuscripts until 1970. Around then, associate
editors were appointed who were assigned manuscripts for decision.
Over his three-decade tenure, Dr. Gibbs closely interacted with
the printer, making all decisions on paper, format, print size,
cover layout, and general instructions to authors.
There are a
number of “Gibbs sagas” related to Plant Physiology
that illustrate Dr. Gibbs’s concerns for the journal. In 1963
the business of Plant Physiology functioned more like a “mom
& pop” operation. Thus, for a half-dozen years, Martin
and Bill and Winifred Klein ran the journal printing, publication,
and distribution out of their homes and offices. One story relates
to the sudden closure of the printer, Craftsmen, Inc., in Kutztown,
Pennsylvania. It seems that the young man who owned Craftsmen was
neglecting to remit FICA taxes to the IRS. Craftsmen’s superintendent
alerted Martin on a Friday night that he expected IRS agents to
arrive the next day. Martin and the Kleins organized a hurried weekend
auto trip to Kutztown, loaded up the galleys, and transported them
to Business Press, Inc., in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to ensure the
timely publication of the next issue. At the next Executive Committee
meeting, Dr. Gibbs apologized that the November issue of the journal
had been a month late. That action demonstrated the detailed attention
of Professor Gibbs and the debt of gratitude also owed to Bill and
Winifred Klein as they worked, mostly unknown to the Plant Physiology
community, with Dr. Gibbs to establish sound business operations
for ASPP.
For more than
three decades, numerous actions were taken by the Society in which
Dr. Gibbs played pivotal roles. For example, he helped lead the
move toward more businesslike functioning for the Society, being
involved in the hiring of business managers, executive secretaries,
and executive directors. He worked on the establishment of headquarters
in Rockville, Maryland, and the Gude property gift that established
a permanent site for Society business operations, spearheaded by
business manager Pat Richter. And near the end of his term, he had
a strong voice in the debate surrounding the creation of the second
Society journal, The Plant Cell.
Dr. Gibbs was
born on Armistice Day—November 11, 1922. His formative years
were shaped by the Great Depression, and he was ever mindful of
resources and expenditures. Even so, through all these changes within
the Society, Professor Gibbs was a wellspring of critical, yet warm
and highly supportive, actions for the entire field of plant physiology.
Quite naturally,
the host of contributions by Professor Gibbs to science, to plant
research, and to the Society were widely appreciated and honored.
Some seminal memberships and recognitions include the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences (1971); the National Academy of Sciences USA
(1974); Marine Biological Laboratory Corporation, Woods Hole (1975);
the ASPP Charles Reid Barnes Life Membership Award (1984); the Alexander
von Humboldt Fellowship (1988); the French Academy of Sciences (1992);
Honorary Life Member of the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists
(1992); the Russian Society of Plant Physiologists (1992); and the
ASPP Adolph E. Gude, Jr. Award (1992). In appreciation of his research
and service for 30 years as chief editor of Plant Physiology,
the Society honored him by issuing the Martin Gibbs Medal, to be
awarded to a distinguished plant scientist. Since the inception
of ASPP in 1924, no living member of the Society has been so honored.
The recipient of the medal is invited to organize the Martin Gibbs
Symposium for the next national meeting. Professor Gibbs was the
first recipient (1992).
Martin courted
Svanhild Karen Kvale during his graduate school years at the University
of Illinois (1943–1947), and they married on October 11, 1950.
They were blessed with five wonderfully attentive children—Janet
Helene, Laura Jean, Steven Joseph, Michael Seland, and Robert Kvale—a
devoted daughter-in-law, Donna, and 10 grandchildren: William, Leila,
Steven, Daniel, John, Douglas, Alec, Samantha, Savannah, and Trevor.
As plant physiologists,
scientists, and friends, we can reflect on Martin Gibbs with a sense
of loss, but with a finer and truer feeling of having had our lives
enriched through the devotion, example, compassion, and wisdom given
to us all by Martin and Karen Gibbs. Thanks to them both for entering
and beautifying our lives.
Clanton
Black
University of Georgia
Remembrances:
Martin Gibbs (continued)
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