The Presentation of the 2026 Distinguished Service Award Professor S. Elizabeth Gibson
R. Patrick Vance, Jones Walker LLP
The American College of Bankruptcy announced the presentation of its 2026 Distinguished Service Award to Professor S. Elizabeth Gibson, the Burton Craige Professor of Law, Emerita at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law. Professor Gibson will receive the award on March 20, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas at the induction of the Class 37 Fellows. The award will be presented on behalf of the College by Professor Melissa Jacoby.
The Distinguished Service Award is the highest honor of the College. Criteria for the award include: significant accomplishments in improving the administration of justice in the insolvency and bankruptcy field; distinguished service consistently rendered over a considerable period of time or a single outstanding achievement in a particular year; accomplishments arising from voluntary activities as opposed to services rendered to a client as a paid professional; membership in the College; and distinguished in the fellow’ s institution in a manner and in matters that are consistent with the goals and purposes of the College.
Professor Gibson is a member of Class XIV( 2003). She has served the legal community for the past 49 years, with the overwhelming majority of that time being devoted to the bankruptcy field and the individuals and businesses affected by it. Professor Gibson’ s teaching, scholarship and service over many years have benefited judges, practitioners and her fellow academics.
Professor Gibson received her Juris Doctor in 1976 with highest distinction from the institution where she spent her academic career – UNC. After law school, Professor Gibson clerked for Judge J. Braxton of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 4 th Circuit and Justice Byron White of the U. S. Supreme Court. She practiced law at Shea & Gardner( now Goodwin Proctor) in Washington, D. C., where she was made a partner, prior to joining the faculty at UNC.
Professor Gibson’ s teaching and research interests include bankruptcy, civil procedure and federal jurisdiction. She is the author of numerous monographs and articles on jurisdictional issues in bankruptcy, including removal, jury trials and sovereign immunity, and the use of bankruptcy to resolve mass torts. Her work has appeared in numerous law reviews. She is a member of the Board of Editors for Collier on Bankruptcy, the National Bankruptcy Conference and the American College of Bankruptcy. Gibson
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