PRESTIGIOUS HONOUR FOR FORMER QWG PRESIDENT
26 September 2019
Dr Marion Gibson, President of Queen’s Women Graduates’ Association (2003–04) and First trust Bank Queen’s Graduate of the Year (2006), has received the prestigious Jans Gremmée Award from the University Women of Europe (UWE), a regional group of Graduate Women International (GWI).
Dr Gibson was nominated by The Irish Federation of University Women (IrFUW), a group she was President of from 2013-16.
Born in Larne, County Antrim and educated in Methodist College Belfast, Marion trained as nurse in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. Following marriage, she worked with her husband, a Church of Ireland Minister, in community and parish activities in Liverpool and Belfast.
Following the premature death of her husband in 1975, Marion registered for a degree in Social Science at the University of Ulster. A residential placement in a US psychiatric hospital for Vietnam veterans resulted in her having an increased concern for, and interest in, the impact of trauma. She obtained her Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Organisation and Manpower Studies from Queen’s in 1989.
Marion went on to complete an Advanced Diploma in Psychological Trauma Management at Nottingham University (1996) and a Doctorate from Queen’s (2000).
Her PhD followed extensive research into the impact on the personal and professional lives of ambulance personnel, social workers, nurses and clergy who responded to those affected by the Kegworth Air crash (1989). Marion was one of two social workers sent from Northern Ireland to assist in the aftermath of the disaster.
Dr Gibson is the author of Order from Chaos: Responding to Traumatic Events, published by Venture Press in 1991, with a second and third editions published in 1998 and 2006.
During her career, she was involved in the setting up Crisis Support Teams in Northern Ireland to respond to community needs in the aftermath of terrorist attacks and civil disturbance; lectured and contributed papers at conferences in Ireland, the UK, Poland, Estonia and elsewhere in Europe, as well as in the USA and Australia; In 1992 she established ‘Staffcare’ to assist organisations with their duty to care for employees in terms of their psychological well-being.
Consultant Director of Staff Care Services, South and East Belfast Health and Social Services Trust, in 1996 Marion trained the local authority Crisis Support Team in Stirling, Scotland, following the shooting of 16 Primary School children and their teacher in Dunblane.
While she was president of Queen’s Women Graduates’ Association (QWGA), which she joined in 1989, and later as president of the Irish Federation of University Women, Dr Gibson worked tirelessly to promote lifelong education for women and girls and to increase the profile of both organisations, as well as playing an active role in promoting the aims and values of UWE and GWI.
As part of her voluntary service in the Red Cross, Marion developed a project in which she and others whom she inspired, knitted ‘trauma teddies’ – often the only toy a refugee child may own – to provide comfort for children suffering from the effects of natural disasters and conflicts. When the first child refugees arrived in Northern Ireland she had a box of hand-knitted colourful teddies ready to distribute.
Named Queen’s Graduate of the Year 2006 for her work in Thailand after the tsunami, Dr Gibson was awarded The International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (USA) Founders Award in 2009 for Innovation in Crisis Intervention, and named the Belfast Telegraph Woman of the Year in 2010 for her charitable work on Project 100, a QWGA fundraising initiative.
In 2016 she received a Point of Light award from British Prime Minister David Cameron, in recognition of her voluntary services with the Red Cross. Speaking at the time Mr Cameron said: “Marion’s trauma teddies are a simple but powerful idea that have provided much needed comfort to thousands of children affected by natural disasters and conflicts around the world.
“She has inspired a huge number of people to support her work by knitting bears, including her local community in Belfast who recently welcomed child refugees from Syria with trauma teddies.
“I am delighted to be able to recognise Marion as the UK’s 462nd Point of Light.”
This latest award, named after the founder of the UWE Jans Gremmée from the Netherlands, has been given to women to honour their work and efforts for a better education and position of women and girls. The criteria for the award include activities of benefit to women in Europe.
Dr Gibson was put forward for the UWE Award by the IrFUW. Her nomination reads:
‘Through her active involvement in voluntary and professional organisations such as the Women’s Institute, the Women Graduates’ Association, the Red Cross, and the International Christian Maritime Association, Marion has displayed her qualities as leader, motivator and peacemaker, and as a person of exceptional organisational skills who is prepared to work hard and give generously of her time and abilities.’
For more on the activities of the QWG visit the Association website or contact Queen’s Alumni Officer (Engagement), Andy Nisbet Friel or phone +44 (0)28 9097 1945.
To submit graduate news items, or for general enquiries about this story, please contact Gerry Power, Communications Officer, Development and Alumni Relations Office, Queen's University Belfast or telephone: +44 (0)28 9097 5321.
Photo caption: Pictured at the UWE Annual General Meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland at the end of July 2019 are (L-R): Dr Marion Gibson; Anne Negre UWE President, Annelies Bults (GWI Treasurer); Terry Oudraad (the new GWI President), with GWI members Roxana Elena Petrescu and (back row) Aisha Alshawaf.
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