John Gibler papers

John Wesley Gibler, B.S. (1947) University of Montana; M.S. (1950), Ph.D. (1951) University of Minnesota. University of Minnesota alumnus and contemporary of Norman Borlaug. Expert in the breeding of cereal and soybeans in highly toxic soils and leader in Latin American crop development.

John Gibler was born in Willow City, South Dakota on November 10, 1920. He grew up in rural Teton County, Montana where his father and mother farmed. He served as a Navy pilot in WWII, and enrolled at the University of Montana after leaving the service, earning his bachelor's degree in 1947. Gibler then enrolled in the University of Minnesota, earning his M.S. in 1950 and Ph.D. in 1951, both in plant pathology. After receiving his doctorate, Gibler was recommended by E.C. Stakman to join Norman Borlaug in Mexico to work on wheat breeding projects. Gibler remained in Mexico through 1955. From 1955 through 1969, Gibler worked as an agricultural consultant for the Rockefeller Foundation. He provided leadership on wheat, barley and oat improvement programs in Colombia (1956-1965) and Ecuador (1965-1967). In 1968-1969, he returned to Mexico and served as Director of Agricultural Programs at CIMMYT. His twenty years in the field in South American solidified his expertise in cereal and soybean breeding and seed production in highly toxic soils.

Between 1969 and 1980, Gibler held several positions simultaneously in the public and private sector. He was Director of Massey-Ferguson International Programs based in Brazil from 1969-1980. He also served as Technical Director for FECOTRIGO (Federation of Farmer’s Wheat and Soybean Cooperatives of Rio Grand e do Sul Brazil) from 1969-1977, and Research Director for OCEPAR (Organization of Farm Cooperatives) in Brazil from 1977-1979.

Between 1955 and 1980, Gibler participated in numerous special assignments which took him around the globe. He participated in crop improvement feasibility studies in the Near East, North Africa, Turkey, Spain, and Central American countries conducted by U.S. AID, FAO, the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, CENTO and the World Bank From 1980-1983, Gibler worked briefly for International Plant Research Institute in the Cereals Program. When that company failed, Gibler returned to consulting, and spent his remaining work years through the mid 1990s advising South and Central American agricultural ministries on crop programs, concentrating on Bolivia and Brazil.

Gibler received numerous honors for his work on wheat and triticale breeding, and was highly regarded as a program administrator. He was awarded the University of Minnesota’s E.C. Stakman award in September 2006. He Married twice; first to Catherine Marie Zander, who died in 2001, and to Bettie Rice. The Giblers had three children; Mary, Jeanette and Paul. John Gibler died December 13, 2006 in Hot Springs, AK.