James E. Gibson, left, shakes hands with Jason Mitchell, a 2007 graduate of Summers County High School and the first recipient of the James E. Gibson Scholarship.
HUNTINGTON -– The Marshall University Foundation Inc. has established a scholarship to honor James E. Gibson through gifts from his family and friends.
The James E. Gibson Scholarship will be awarded each year to a full-time, undergraduate student from Summers County High School in West Virginia who has a minimum high school GPA of 2.50 and has demonstrated financial need.
Jason Mitchell, a 2007 graduate of Summers County High School, is the first recipient of the Gibson scholarship.
"I wanted to help some kids from Summers County who have the IQ and ability to go to college, but lack the finances," said Gibson, who attended grade school and junior high school in Hinton in Summers County, before moving to Huntington. "Not very many people from Summers County go to Marshall."
Summers County High School is a consolidation of four high schools, including Hinton High.
"It is a wonderful thing to be able to give back to the kids, to Marshall University and to the state of West Virginia," Gibson said. "Our whole future is in our kids. We need to get them educated in West Virginia and employed in West Virginia to keep them here."
Gibson, a lifetime member of the Marshall University Alumni Association, is currently serving on the boards of the Society of Yeager Scholars and The Marshall University Foundation Inc.
Gibson was honored with the MUAA Distinguished Service Award in 2006 and, along with his wife, Verna K. Lemaster Gibson, was inducted into the Marshall University Pathway of Prominence and President's Circle.