GMC presents inaugural Jim Fibbe Legacy Award to local Mobile student and former summer intern

GMC is pleased to announce Clement O’Dell Williams Jr., as the recipient of the inaugural Jim Fibbe Legacy Award. Williams is a recent graduate of W.P. Davidson High School and received a $500 award.

GMC presented the award to Williams on Monday, June 24. Mobile County Public School System Superintendent Chresal Threadgill, a longtime friend of Fibbe who was his elementary school basketball coach, was present for the award presentation, in addition to Williams’ father Clement Williams Sr., and Kristi July Signature Academy Coordinator for MCPSS.

The Jim Fibbe Legacy Award was established to honor Jim Fibbe, a long-time engineer and current client liaison at GMC, who is admired throughout the community for both his professional and personal accomplishments. The $500 award is given to a local student interested in pursuing a career related to services GMC provides, including architecture, engineering, environmental, electrical, landscape architecture, planning, and transportation.

A native of Frankfort, Ky., Fibbe attended Auburn University, where he led the Tigers to an SEC Basketball Championship and earned a civil engineering degree. He served as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for two years following graduation. After working for a short time as an engineer in Huntsville, Ala., Fibbe moved to Mobile in 1966 where he accepted the position of Director of Environmental Services for the Mobile County Health Department. While working as an engineer in Mobile, Fibbe was responsible for developing an air pollution control program and was named Air Conservationist of the Year by The Alabama Wildlife Federation, The National Wildlife Federation, and the Sears Roebuck and Company in 1977. In 1987, he became Director of the Mobile Area Water and Sewer System, where he served for 11 years. He later served as the General Manager for the Mobile County Water, Sewer and Fire Protection Authority and Executive Director of CSS Alabama Association (USA) before joining GMC in 2004. Fibbe has served on countless boards, task forces, committees, and nonprofits in an effort to further his impact on the local community and invest his knowledge and resources in the City of Mobile, Mobile County and the State of Alabama, among others.

“GMC is proud to present this award on behalf of Jim Fibbe to students who excel in academics and community involvement,” said GMC Regional Vice President Lee Walters. “Clement served as a model student and embodies everything this award represents.”

Williams interned with GMC in 2018 as part of the Mobile County Public School System’s Signature Academy Summer Internship Program. In addition to his internship with GMC, he was a member of the James McPherson National Honor Society, recipient of the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) Marksmanship Award, winner of the Stephen Decatur Award and member of the Robotics Team.