The Daily Mirror publisher had been struggling to replace Sir Victor Blank ahead of his retirement from the board on May 4, but has persuaded Gibson to join that day.
Although a hugely experienced director, Gibson lacks media experience. His previous positions have included senior vice-president of Nissan, non-executive director of the Bank of England, and deputy chairman of Asda. More recently, he was the chairman of BPB, the plasterboards company taken over by a French company earlier this year.
Currently he is a non-executive director at engineering group GKN, bakery chain Greggs and building society Northern Rock.
One of the first candidates to be been linked with the post, when it emerged in January that Blank was to step down, was Sir David Arculus, a former managing director of Emap and chairman of IPC Media. However, he chose to join Pearson as a non-executive director in March.
Trinity Mirror was subsequently rebuffed by Sir John Parker, the chairman of P&O, who elected to stay with the ports company.
According to stock market speculation, the departure of Blank after eight years may prove the catalyst for Trinity Mirror to sell off its national newspapers and focus on its regional newspapers division.
In the wake of Blank's resignation two aggressive US investment funds, Harris Associates and Tweedy Browne, increased their holdings in the company. Harris began buying shares in earnest last autumn and now owns more than 11%.
On taking his post, Gibson said: "I am delighted to be joining the board, and bringing my experience to the table as we explore further options for growth and the creation of shareholder value."
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