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Frank B.
Gibney, 81, One of the Nation’s Preeminent Experts on
Asia and
President of the Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona
College, Has Died
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Frank Gibney, one of America's foremost experts on Asia and
Asia Pacific affairs and editor of The Pacific Century, died
on April 9, at his home in Santa Barbara, at the age of 81.
 President of the Pacific Basin Institute and a professor of
politics at Pomona College, in Claremont, Calif., Gibney
spent most of his life attempting to bridge the gap between
Americans and the countries and cultures of East Asia. He
first visited Asia as a lieutenant in U.S. Naval
Intelligence stationed in Japan during World War II and
returned to Japan in 1949 as Time-Life's bureau chief,
rising to prominence covering the Korean War. He remained in
Asia where he did extensive reporting in Japan, Korea and
Southeast Asia.
Gibney later served as an editor of Time, a senior features
editor of Newsweek and an editorial writer for Life
magazine. After joining the Encyclopedia Britannica in 1966,
he spent 10 years in charge of Britannica’s business and
editorial operations in East Asia. He founded and edited the
Japanese-language Britannica (completed in 1975) and later
editions of the encyclopedia in Chinese and Korean.
A prolific writer, Gibney was the author of 11 books from
Five Gentlemen of Japan (1953) to Korea’s Quiet Revolution
(1992) and The Battle for Okinawa (1995). His major work,
The Pacific Century (1992) was the capstone of the
award-winning PBS television series of that name, where he
served as chief editor. The program aired in Japan, Korea,
Taiwan and Singapore, as well as the U.S. He was also a
frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times and the
Washington Post, most recently writing about Japan’s Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi, in September 2005.
Active in public service, Gibney served as a chief
consultant to the House of Representatives Committee on
Space and Aeronautics, a White House speechwriter for
President Johnson, and a vice chairman of the Japan-U.S.
Friendship Commission.
In 1976, the Japanese government awarded Gibney the Order of
the Rising Sun, Third Class, for his work in cultural
affairs. The Order of the Sacred Treasure, Second Class,
followed a few years later.
Fluent in Japanese, Professor Gibney co-founded the Pacific
Basin Institute in 1979 to further understanding, on both
sides of the Pacific, of the tremendous importance of their
relationship and their shared responsibilities. In 1997, the
Institute moved to Pomona College, where its unique
Asia/Pacific film archive, production facilities and public
events play an important role in the life and academic
activities of the college and community.
"Frank Gibney was a remarkable and rare person," says Hans
Palmer, vice president of the Pacific Basin Institute and
professor of economics at Pomona College. "As an expert on
Asia and a journalist extraordinaire, he helped define much
of our thinking about the peoples and cultures of the
Pacific Basin. He believed that we all share a common
reality and that we all would share a common future for
which we need to prepare. His humor was infectious, and his
humanity was all encompassing. He will be sorely missed."
He is survived by his third wife, Hiroko Doi, of Santa
Barbara, and seven children: Alex Gibney, of Summit, New
Jersey; Margot Gibney, of Oakland, CA; Frank Gibney Jr. of
Brooklyn, New York; James Gibney, of New York City; Thomas
Gibney, of Placerville, CA; Elise Gibney, of Eagle Rock, CA
and Josephine Gibney of Los Angeles; and seven
grandchildren. |
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