Robert Sibley (1881-1958) was a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also directed its alumni association. He also helped found the East Bay Regional Park system. One of its parks is named after him, the

Robert Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve Robert Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve is located in the Oakland Hills of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. The park is part of the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD), covers , and lies east of Oakland, partly i ...

. He was also prominent nationally as a leader of alumni associations. Since 1929, the Robert Sibley Magazine of the Year Award has honored excellence in

alumni magazine __NOTOC__ An alumni magazine is a magazine published by a university, college, or other school or by an association of a school's alumni (and sometimes current students) in order to keep alumni abreast of fellow alumni and news of their universit ...

Biography

Robert Sibley born on March 28, 1881, in

Round Mountain, Alabama Round Mountain is an unincorporated community in Cherokee County, Alabama, United States. For a short period, it was an incorporated community beginning in 1908, and was listed in the 1910 U.S. Census as having 210 residents. That technically and ...

. He was the fourth son of Robert Pendleton Sibley (born 17 Feb. 1848) and Susie B. Sibley (née Susie Wheless Bolling, 19 Jan. 1851). His siblings were Bolling (b. 1873), Francis Wheless (b. 1875), George Royal (b. 1879), and Herbert (b. 1885). Sibley graduated from the University of California in 1903. For a time, Sibley served as editor of the ''Journal of Electricity''. Sibley was a professor of mechanical engineering at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, an executive manager of the

California Alumni Association The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

(1923-1949), and director and president of the

East Bay Regional Park District The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is a special district operating in Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, within the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area. It maintains and operates a system of regional parks which ...

(1948-1958). When the local water district announced its plans to sell a great deal of land in the East Bay hills in 1929, it was reported that Sibley "went right down to city officials and said, 'these valuable pieces of land ought to be preserved forever'". Sibley, then executive manager of the California Alumni Association, recruited other civic leaders to the cause of preservation, and "immediately enlisted Hollis Thompson, Berkeley City Manager, to organize the East Bay Regional Parks Association". Robert Sibley was married to Carol Sibley (née Rhodes) from 6 December 1943
full page view showing Dec. 6 date on page
Article begins "The marriage in Washington, D.C., yesterday of Robert Sibley... and Mrs. Carol Rhodes Johnston... was announced in Berkeley today...."In her oral history, Sibley (1980) states that she was married "In '43, December. We never can remember whether it was December 6 or 7. It was either Pearl Harbor Day or the day before... there in Washington .C... I've got it somewhere" (p. 83); On page 304 of the oral history, her "Vitae... prepared for Wellesley College Alumnae Association, 1975" lists December 6 as the wedding day; The Dec. 6 ''

Oakland Tribune The ''Oakland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group. Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' rose to become an influential daily newspaper. With the declin ...

'', a daily newspaper published in the afternoons, stated that the marriage had been "yesterday" in Washington, D.C. until his death in 1958.FULL PDF
/ref> Sibley lived for many years in a house in Berkeley known as

Allanoke Manor Allanoke Manor or Allanoke, is a historic private residence in Berkeley, California. The main part of Allanoke has the address 1777 Le Roy Avenue, and its former carriage house has the address 2533 Ridge Road, each about one block north of the camp ...

. When Sibley retired on 30 June 1949 as manager of the

, the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...

passed a resolution commending him for his service, and noting the growth in membership of the alumni association. In 1958, when Robert and Carol Sibley were traveling together in France, Robert died unexpectedly of a heart attack in

Dinan Dinan (; ) is a walled Breton town and a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in northwestern France. On 1 January 2018, the former commune of Léhon was merged into Dinan. Geography Its geographical setting is exceptional. Instead of n ...

, France. His remains were cremated in Paris, and returned to California. Robert Sibley died on July 22, 1958.

Works

* (Kessinger Legacy Reprint, 2010; originally published by Lederer, Street & Zeus Co., 1952) * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sibley, Robert 1881 births 1958 deaths University of California, Berkeley alumni People from Berkeley, California