Fred Gibson's family came to Nevada in 1929; moving to Ely, Carson City, and eventually Las Vegas. He went into the Army after high school graduation and then studied Japanese at Yale. After some time in Colorado, Fred transferred to UNR and graduated from the Mackay School of Mines. Fred and his dad organized Pacific Engineering and Production Company of Nevada in 1955. The company merged with American Pacific in 1982 and today, among other enterprises, manufactures drugs at a facility in Rancho Cordova. His brother James Gibson served almost 30 years in the Nevada legislature. As a trustee director of the Nevada Development Authority (NDA), Fred was instrumental in organizing support for the idea of an engineering school at UNLV. Fred worked with people like Robert Maxson, Bob Gore, Jack McBride, Bill Flangas, and John Goolsby. He also teamed with Kenny Guinn to elicit donations from individuals and corporations, and lobbied the legislature to garner support for the school. As a member of the University Foundation, Fred has had a lot of interaction with Georgia Tech, and is trying to get the State of Nevada to approve a Georgia plan. He believes this will help the UNLV College of Engineering reach the level of schools like Georgia Tech and MIT. He also encourages the legislature to allow the university to use unclaimed property funds, but this idea still has not met with approval.

Photograph of Las Vegas School and surrounding area, Las Vegas (Nev.), 1910