Robert Kibbee

{{Short description|American university administrator}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Robert Kibbee | honorific_suffix = | image =  | image_upright = | landscape =  | alt =  | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1921|08|19}} | birth_place = Staten Island, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1982|06|16|1921|08|19}} | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | burial_place =  | burial_coordinates =  | monuments = | alma_mater = Fordham University (BA)<br />University of Chicago (MA, PhD) | occupation = | years_active = | era = | employer = City University of New York | organization = | known_for = | notable_works =  | style = | title = Chancellor | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | movement = | opponents = | boards = | spouse =  | children = | parents =  | father = Guy Kibbee | mother = Helen Shay | relatives = Milton Kibbee (uncle),<br/>Lois Kibbee (cousin) | callsign = | awards = | website =  | module = | module2 = | module3 = | module4 = | module5 = | module6 = | signature = | signature_size = | signature_alt = | footnotes = }} '''Robert Joseph Kibbee''' (August 19, 1921 – June 16, 1982) was an American university administrator who was Chancellor of the City University of New York.

==Biography== Kibbee was born on Staten Island, New York.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url= https://www.cuny.edu/about/administration/former-chancellors/|title=Former Chancellors}}</ref> His father was Hollywood actor Guy Kibbee and his mother was Helen Shay Kibbee; his parents separated when he was a young boy.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yEorDwAAQBAJ&q=%22robert+kibbee%22+cuny+%22staten+island%22&pg=PT69|title=CUNY's First Fifty Years: Triumphs and Ordeals of a People's University|first1=Anthony G.|last1=Picciano|first2=Chet|last2=Jordan|date=2017|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781351982146|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/18/obituaries/robert-j-kibbee-chancellor-of-city-university-for-more-than-a-decade-dies-at-60.html|title=Robert J. Kibbee, Chancellor of City University for More Than; a Decade, Dies at 60|first=Gene I.|last=Maeroff|newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 18, 1982}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/07/28/archives/demilitarizer-of-the-campus-robert-joseph-kibbee.html|title=Robert Joseph Kibbee: 'Demilitarizer' of the Campus|first=|last=|newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 28, 1971|last1=Kibbee |first1=Robert Joseph }}</ref> He attended Xavier High School in Manhattan, New York, and earned a bachelor's degree at Fordham University in 1943.<ref name="auto2"/><ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto"/>

After serving in World War II in the Philippines from 1940 to 1945, Kibbee earned a master's degree in higher education administration from the University of Chicago in 1947, and a doctorate there in 1957.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto2"/><ref name="auto1"/> He was then administrative dean at Southern State College, and in 1955 became dean of students at Drake University.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://web.saumag.edu/archives/archives/history/illustrated/ssc/a-new-president-2/|title=A New President, New Faculty, and Accreditation of SSC|author=The Higher Learning Commission |website=University Archives}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/> From 1958 to 1961 he worked for the University of Chicago as an educational advisor in Pakistan.<ref name="auto1"/> Kibbee then served as assistant to President John Warner and as vice president for planning and administration at Carnegie-Mellon University, and as President of the Pittsburgh Board of Education.<ref name="auto2"/><ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto"/>

Kibbee was Chancellor of the City University of New York, the third-largest university in the United States, from 1971 to 1982.<ref name="auto2"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v82lcegLd4kC&q=%22robert+kibbee%22&pg=PA132|title=Town and Gown: The Fight for Social Justice, Urban Rebirth, and Higher Education|first=Robert D.|last=Parmet|date= 2011|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=9781611474732|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="auto3"/> During that time CUNY transitioned to open admissions.<ref name="auto2"/>

He was married first to Katherine Kirk, and then in 1980 to Margaret Rockwitz.<ref name="auto3"/>

Kibbee had cranial surgery to remove a tumor, and died on June 16, 1982, two weeks before his scheduled retirement, at 60 years of age.<ref name="auto2"/><ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto3"/> The library at Kingsborough Community College is named after him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://librarytechnology.org/library/4790|title=Robert J. Kibbee Library -- City University of New York|website=librarytechnology.org}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.cuny.edu/ The City University of New York]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kibbee, Robert}} Category:1921 births Category:1982 deaths Category:University of Chicago alumni Category:Drake University faculty Category:Chancellors of City University of New York Category:Educators from New York City Category:Fordham University alumni Category:Southern Arkansas University faculty Category:Carnegie Mellon University faculty Category:People from Staten Island Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American expatriates in the Philippines Category:Xavier High School (New York City) alumni