Weldon B. Gibson was a longtime executive at SRI International

SRI International

SRI International , founded as Stanford Research Institute, is one of the world's largest contract research institutes. Based in Menlo Park, California, the trustees of Stanford University established it in 1946 as a center of innovation to support economic development in the region. It was later...

 (previously the Stanford Research Institute), where he worked full-time from 1947 until 1988, and part time as Senior Director Emeritus until his death. He was closely associated with the organization, and was known as "Mr. SRI".

Early life and education

Gibson was the son of farmers in Eldorado, Texas

Eldorado, Texas

Eldorado is a city in and the county seat of Schleicher County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,951 at the 2000 census, but dropped to 1,800 according to a July 2009 estimate.Eldorado is located on U.S...

 who were hit hard by the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

, but still managed to send Gibson to Washington State University

Washington State University

Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...

. He then attended Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

, where he learned about the Stanford Research Institute before it had officially launched.

Memberships and awards

Gibson was given the Washington State University Distinguished Alumni Award for his role in creating the WSU Foundation. He is the namesake for the Gibson Achievement Award, which is for an employee of SRI International that has a significant impact on society's standard of living and prosperity.