Gibbs was one of the first black commissioned officers in World War I and served as president of then North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College from 1955 to 1960.

[2] Serving as a second lieutenant with the predominantly black 92nd Division Expeditionary Force, Gibbs saw battle in France in 1917 and 1918 before returning to the United States in 1919.

[4] After the death of then president, Dr. Ferdinand D. Bluford in 1955, Gibbs was appointed as the acting head of North Carolina A&T College.

The guidance center became a separate department, a placement office was established, athletics flourished and coaching staffs were reorganized.

On February 1, 1960, one of the most dramatic events during the Gibbs administration occurred when four freshmen students, Ezell Blair, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond sat down at a segregated lunch counter at the downtown Greensboro Woolworth's store in protest of the company's policy of excluding African Americans from being served there.