In an announcement, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins praised Gibbons's «
extraordinary scientific skills, tremendous energy and bold vision.»
«He brings an unusual combination of
extraordinary scientific insight and tremendous administrative
skills,» says physicist David Bishop, who was hired by Brinkman in 1978 right out of graduate school and is now the chief operating officer for LGS Innovations, a surviving piece of Bell Labs that carries out government work.