Thomas Quinlevan Gilson ’38

Body

He was born in Summit, N.J., and attended Summit High School. At Princeton he majored in economics, graduating magna cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

In 1939, Tom married Marie Jacques of New Haven, Conn. A stint as a YMCA guidance counselor inspired Tom to earn degrees in personnel and business management at Columbia (master’s degree) and MIT (doctorate) while teaching at Clark, Harvard, and later at Rutgers universities. At this time he also started his lifelong career as a labor arbitrator. In 1964, when Tom and his family went to the University of Hawaii on a short assignment, he fell in love with the islands and continued teaching there until 1986, when the Gilsons retired to Bainbridge Island, Wash. But Tom continued arbitrating in Hawaii, Alaska, and the Northeast.

Tom and Marie moved to a retirement home in Carmichael in 1997, and Tom finally gave up tennis. They continued to travel worldwide until his death.

Tom is survived by Marie; a daughter, Muffy Pickel; and a son, Tom Jr.; six grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter. Their son Bill died in 2004. To all the family, the class extends sincerest condolences.

No responses yet

Join the conversation

Plain text

Full name and Princeton affiliation (if applicable) are required for all published comments. For more information, view our commenting policy. Responses are limited to 500 words for online and 250 words for print consideration.

Paw in print

Image
The cover of PAW’s November 2025 issue, featuring a photo of a space probe and the headline "Made in Princeton."
The Latest Issue

November 2025

NASA’s new IMAP mission, London’s big data detective, AI challenges in the classroom.