Tim Gibbs ’76 has dedicated his life to serving the community, both through his professional and volunteer roles. Currently serving as the Executive Director of the Delaware Academy of Medicine/Delaware Public Health Association, Tim has worked tirelessly to improve several healthcare initiatives through the non-profit sector. His Quaker background has inspired his passion to help the underserved and those who are in need.
His exposure to, and passion for, community service started which he was a junior at WFS with his volunteer work at the Alfred I. dupont Institute for Children where he worked directly with patients and in the research laboratories. Tim went onto receive his B.A. from Earlham College, non-profit management certification from the University of Delaware, and a Master’s in Public Health from Arcadia University.
In the late 80s, he led a groundbreaking project and managed the founding of Delaware’s first transitional housing and hospice care facility for people with HIV/AIDS. Upon the project’s merger with Catholic Charities in the early 90s, Tim coupled his passion for human services with his technology skills, and became the Executive Director of Catalyst Project, an organization focused on helping non-profits effectively use technology. While working at Catalyst Project, he collaborated with the University of Delaware and helped established Delaware’s first network for non-profits, Diamondnet, as well as the first online version of the Delaware Helpline database (now called Delaware 211). During this period Catalyst operated a computer recycling and upgrade facility, and did substantial work in the field around preparation for “Y2K”. During this time, he was also a member of the Washington, DC, Information Technology Roundtable, a group that worked on privacy settings and platform interoperability for the early internet with the Brookings Institute. Many of the initiatives set by this group have allowed us to experience the internet as it is today. In his current role at the Delaware Academy of Medicine, Tim oversaw the organization’s move from Wilmington to Newark, and has worked to restructure their program and mission. These efforts led to the Delaware Academy of Medicine being named Delaware’s affiliate to the American Public Health Association in 2013. In 2015, under Tim’s direction, the Academy started publishing the peer-reviewed “Delaware Journal of Public Health,” assuring the sector a dedicated voice for these issues in our state.
Tim is an active volunteer and is a Board Member for the Delaware Stroke Initiative and the Delaware Community Foundation Development Team. He serves as Delaware’s representative to the American Public Health Association Council of Affiliates, and is currently the Region 3 coordinator for the APHA (Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, DC, Virginia, and West Virginia). He is also involved with American Planning Association, the National Academy of Medicine, and is an active member of Wilmington Rotary. Some of his most rewarding and challenging work is working with people in recovery from addiction. Tim served on the WFS Alumni Board for five years and is a loyal and dedicated alumnus. He supports WFS because he admires the School's commitment to "doing the right thing," and not valuing or judging one type of success over another. He hopes WFS will stay on the path its on, and continue to hire wonderful faculty and produce outstanding alumni. The School is grateful for his involvement, and we are honored to present him with this year’s Outstanding Service Award.