Houston Daily

The University of Houston has received a $2.67 million donation from the estate of Dr. William A. Gibson to support addiction research, in memory of his son Michael Conner Gibson, who died from addiction in 2019.

This new gift will fund the Michael Conner Gibson Endowed Professorship in Psychology and the Michael Conner Gibson Research Endowment within the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. The bequest follows an earlier contribution by the Gibsons that established the Michael C. Gibson Addiction Research Program at UH’s Department of Psychology, which has recently developed a fentanyl vaccine designed to block the drug’s effects on the brain.

Daniel O’Connor, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, stated, “This incredibly generous gift will accelerate UH’s addiction research program and advance new approaches to treatment.” He added, “Our future discoveries will forever honor the memory of Michael Conner Gibson and the Gibson family, and I expect that the work supported by these endowments will eventually save many thousands of lives.”

The addiction research program is led by psychology professor Therese Kosten and co-led by Colin Haile, a founding member of the UH Drug Discovery Institute. Their work on a fentanyl vaccine could serve as a relapse prevention tool for individuals attempting to stop opioid use. Studies indicate that although opioid use disorder can be treated, about 80% of those dependent on opioids experience relapse.

Dr. William A. Gibson (1933–2024) was known for his achievements in nuclear physics and innovation in touchscreen technology after earning his doctorate from the University of Rochester and working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory before co-founding Elographics.

After Michael’s death in 2019, his parents provided initial funding for faculty research at UH’s Addiction Behavioral Research Lab to support innovative studies aimed at helping people struggling with addiction.

The endowed professorship benefits from matching funds through UH's Aspire Fund Challenge—a $50 million grant program started in 2019 with an anonymous donor's gift—which doubles its impact by providing one-to-one matching for such positions. This initiative has allowed UH to expand its number of endowed chairs and professorships across disciplines.