Summer Gibson is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at Lamar University, where she teaches graduate courses in special education law, transition, instructional strategies for low-incidence disabilities, and foundations of exceptionality, and serves as lead faculty for the program's core course sequence. She came to Lamar in 2025 after twenty-one years in Texas public schools, working as a special education teacher, behavior strategist, teacher of students with visual impairments, campus department chair, district coordinator, and most recently Director of Special Education for a rural shared services arrangement. She holds a Ph.D. in Special Education Administration from Texas Tech University and is certified as a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments, in special education, and as a principal — credentials that span both sides of the ARD table.

Dr. Gibson's research examines students who become invisible in the systems meant to serve them: the educational and social experiences of students with albinism and visual impairments, implementation of the Expanded Core Curriculum, state assessment policy and its effects on eligibility decisions, and behavior support in rural districts operating without specialist infrastructure. She serves on the editorial board of the British Journal of Visual Impairment and has been a member of the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation since 2007, presenting regularly to parents and professionals. She continues to consult with East Texas districts and to advocate alongside families navigating special education services — work grounded in her own experience as the parent of two children with exceptionalities.