After a nine-month search, the University announced yesterday that Alfred M. Gibbens, president of Yankton College in South Dakota, will fill the position of director of University development beginning March 1, 1977.

Gibbens, who did not attend Harvard College, will be responsible for the management of central University fund raising and the University Development Office, Dr. Chase N. Peterson '52, vice president for alumni affairs and development, said yesterday.

Internal Adviser

Gibbens, who will fill the position vacated last spring when Henry F. Colt Jr. '46 took over the post of assistant vice president for alumni affairs and development, will also serve as an internal adviser to the University development officers.

"With broad experience in fundraising, Gibbens has an enormous reputation for getting things done," Peterson said.

Peterson said that Gibbens, who holds a Ph. D. from the University of Pittsburgh in the economics of education, was instrumental in improving fundraising at Yankton College.

According to one development office official, who did not wish to be identified, the appointment of Gibbens is "another move by the University to beef-up the development office staff in the belief that fundraising is the best means to solve the University's fiscal woes."

Gibbens was unavailable for comment yesterday.