Thomas William Bibb was born in 1883 in Missouri. Bibb earned a bachelor's degree at William Jewell College (Liberty, Missouri) in 1908. In 1910 he moved to Tacoma, Washington to take a job as a teacher, and in 1918 he took a job as the superintendent of schools in Grays Harbor County, Washington. In 1928 Bibb took a job at Ellensburgh Normal school (later Central Washington University) as head of the department of physical sciences and dean of men. During this time, Bibb also completed is Ph.D. in education at the University of Washington. Bibb's dissertation, "The History of Early Common School Education in Washington" was a landmark study of education in the Pacific Northwest. In 1929 Albany College hired Bibb as its president. Bibb's job was a difficult one. As a "self-help" school, Albany's students lacked funds to pay tuition, a situation which had become financial burden for the institution. Bibb was tasked with phasing out the self-help program, increasing enrollment, improving the faculty, and raising funds in the midst of the Great Depression. Although the number of students increased during the Depression, fundraising failed to meet the goals of the Board of Trustees. During Bibb's tenure at Albany, the college became a member of the Northwest Association of Secondary and Higher Schools and the Northwest Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. In 1934, the Board of Trustees and the Synod recommended that Albany College establish a satellite program in Portland on a tentative basis. This program proved to be popular and a source of revenue. As a result, the Board of Trustees made the satellite program permanent. In 1936 a commeittee of trustees issued a report recommending that the Portland program be expanded and a permanent Portland campus should be acquired. In June of 1938 the Albany campus was closed permanently and accreditation was lost. Upon receiving notice of the Board's decision, Bibb resigned and took a job as president of Missouri Valley College (Marshall, MO). Bibb died at the age of 97 in Littleton, Colorado.
From the guide to the Administrative Records of Albany College (Oregon) President, William Thomas Bibb, 1929-1938, (Lewis & Clark College Special Collections and Archives)
