Music has always been an important part of Lynne Gibson's life. Growing up in Chicago, she listened to her pianist father, Don Gibson, play jazz and classical music at home. Deciding on a career in audiology, Gibson earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Wyoming and a master's degree at Colorado State University, before completing an internship at the renowned Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis. She spent 12 years as an audiologist in Oregon and Arizona, where she started a retail hearing aid dispensing program for Cigna.
In the late 1980s, Gibson's husband was transferred to Miami, and she started a new chapter in her life. As the mother of two young children, Laurel and Alec, she started volunteering and raising funds for their private school education. Newly single, she decided to go back to school, earning her MBA from the University of Miami School of Business in 1997. "I found that I really enjoyed fundraising, particularly since I could see that it made such a difference in people's lives," she says.
Drawing on that passion to help others, Gibson became director of development for Boys and Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade; regional development officer and director of development for the National Tropical Botanical Garden that operates The Kampong in Coconut Grove; and director of development for Miami City Ballet. Since joining the University of Miami Division of Advancement in 2011, Gibson has been director of development for the Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music, led by Dean Shelton G. (“Shelly”)? Berg, the Patricia L. Frost Professor of Music. "Our dean has brought the school to a new level of excellence," she says. "To continue that momentum, we reach out to donors who can support our faculty, programs and community outreach initiatives."
Gibson herself has contributed to the music school and is joining the University's Heritage Society for her ongoing support, including a planned gift to support scholarships for music students. "I want to do everything I can to help our school achieve its goals," she says. "Through planned giving, you can provide for your children while still making a difference for an organization that's important to you personally. That's what I've done with the Frost School of Music."
