Dr. Gibbons was a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering. He was a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was awarded the AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize for sustained exceptional contributions to advancing science; the Leo Szilard Award for Physics in the Public Interest from the American Physical Society; and medals from the German and French governments for fostering scientific cooperation. Gibbons has over 50 publications on energy and environmental policy.