The Marianne and Edward Gibson Endowed Fund

A Transformational Gift

This past November, all of us at Knowledge were profoundly moved and grateful when longtime Knowledge viewer Marianne Gibson established The Marianne and Edward Gibson Endowed Fund to support the creation of original documentaries at Knowledge.

Marianne chose to make this generous gift to honour her late husband, Edward, inspired by his many interests and passions. In addition to being a geography professor at SFU, Edward was Director of the SFU Art Gallery from 1988 until 1997, when he retired. His dream of a space for art, creativity and community at SFU recently came to fruition with the opening of the Gibson Art Museum. Edward had a deep love of teaching and geography, and was fascinated by the interplay of art, culture and the environment. He was a patriotic Canadian and proud of his Scottish heritage, serving in the military in the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada.

Edward’s connection to Knowledge began decades ago: one of his main PhD advisors was Dr. Walter Hardwick, who served as chair of the newly created network from 1980 to 1988. In the 1990s, Edward received funding from Knowledge to make two documentaries, one focused on BC and Alberta architecture and the other on Canadian contributions to the First World War. Marianne and Edward, who were high school sweethearts in Tillsonburg, Ontario, and settled in Vancouver in 1963, always wanted to “return the favour” by making a significant gift to Knowledge. The fund, which is the largest lifetime gift in Knowledge’s history, will be used to commission BC-based documentaries from local independent producers for years to come.

“I think it’s very important that Knowledge reflects our province’s history and who we are – not just heroes and heroines, but ordinary people as well,” says Marianne. “The fund will always be about supporting British Columbia stories, that’s what I would like. And I’m sure Edward would like that too.”