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Robert Sibley (March 28, 1881-July 22, 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. 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 magazines.

Biography

Robert Sibley born on March 28, 1881, in Round Mountain, Alabama. 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, an executive manager of the California Alumni Association (1923-1949), and director and president of the East Bay Regional Park District (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 until his death in 1958.

Sibley lived for many years in a house in Berkeley known as Allanoke Manor.

When Sibley retired on 30 June 1949 as manager of the California Alumni Association, the California State Senate 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, France. His remains were cremated in Paris, and returned to California. Robert Sibley died on July 22, 1958.

Works

• Sibley, Robert; Sibley, Carol (2010). University Of California Pilgrimage: A Treasury Of Tradition, Lore And Laughter. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1163820636. OCLC 2939223. (Kessinger Legacy Reprint, 2010; originally published by Lederer, Street & Zeus Co., 1952)

• Obata, Chiura; Calkins, William Frederick; Sibley, Robert (1939). The seasons at California. California Monthly. OCLC 21656997.

• Sibley, Robert (1937). The Golden Book of California, a Record of the First Seventy-Five years in the life of the University of California. Berkeley, CA: California Alumni Association. OCLC 977633107.

• Sibley, Robert; University of California, Berkeley, eds. (1928). The Romance of the University of California. H.S. Crocker Company, Inc., for the University of California Alumni Association. OCLC 187480513.

References

1. ^ Thompson, Daniella (21 March 2008). "East Bay Then and Now: Allenoke Manor Was a Scene of Hospitality for 5 Decades. Category: Home & Garden Columns from The Berkeley Daily Planet". Berkeley Daily Planet. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
2. Anonymous. "Robert Sibley Magazine of the Year Award". www.case.org. Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Retrieved 2 November 2019.
3. "Sibley, Robert". World Biography. Institute for Research in Biography. 1948. p. 4363. OCLC 937435353.
4. Sibley, Robert Pendleton; Sibley, John Adams; sibley, James Longstreet (1908). Ancestry and life of Josiah Sibley, born April 1st, 1808 at Uzbridge, Massachusetts, died, Dec. 7th, 1888, at Augusta, Georgia. Augusta, GA: Williams Prress. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
5. The California Monthly. California Alumni Association. 1919.
6. ^ Finacom, Steven (7 February 2019). "Berkeley, a Look Back: Sibley home site of elite 1944 shindig". East Bay Times. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
7. ^ Thompson, Daniella. "Berkeley Landmarks: Allanoke (Allen G. Freeman House)". berkeleyheritage.com. Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
8. ^ Marshall, Amelia Sue (2017). East Bay Hills: A Brief History. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781439663110.
9. ^ Sibley, Carol (1980). Carol Rhodes Sibley--building Community Trust, Berkeley School Integration and Other Civic Endeavors, 1943-1978: An Interview. Regional Oral History Office, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. FULL PDF
10. Anonymous (6 December 1943). "Robert Sibley Weds in East: U.C. Alumni Executive Marries Wellesley Graduates' Official". Oakland Tribune. Vol. 139, no. 159. p. 15C. Retrieved 2 November 2019. (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...."
11. 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 ... 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, a daily newspaper published in the afternoons, stated that the marriage had been "yesterday" in Washington, D.C.
12. California (1949). "Chapter 199, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 70 - Relative to commending Mr. Robert Sibley for his work as Executive Manager of the California Alumni Association and Editor of the California Monthly". Statutes of California. California State Printing Office. pp. 3416–3417. Filed with Secretary of State on July 2, 1949
13. "Robert Sibley 1881 - 1958". California Monthly. 69 (1). California Alumni Association.: 9 1958. He died on July 22 while in Dinan, France.... Robert Sibley '03 has been called the 'Father of the California Alumni Association.'

• 1881 births
• 1958 deaths
• University of California, Berkeley alumni
• People from Berkeley, California