text: *National Carbon Company Fellow in Physics, 1957–1961
  *Department of Commerce Gold Medal, 1969
  *Samuel W. Stratton Award, 1971
  *Department of Commerce Gold Medal, 1974 (group awards)
  *IR-100: Laser stabilizer selected as one of "100 best new products of the year," 1975
  *IR-100: Laser wavelength meter ("Lambdameter") selected as one of "100 best new products of the year," 1977
  *E. U. Condon Award, 1979
  *Charles Hard Townes Award of the Optical Society of America, 1984, jointly with V. P. Chebotayev (Academy of Sciences, USSR)
  *Davisson-Germer Prize of the American Physical Society, 1988
  *Docteur Honoris Causa de l'Universite Paris Nord, 1989
  *Frederic Ives Medal of the Optical Society of America, 1991
  *Einstein Prize for Laser Science, 1992
  *Arthur L. Shawlow Prize of the American Physical Society, 1993
  *Allen V. Astin Measurement Science Award, 2000
  *Max Born Award of the Optical Society of America, 2002
  *Presidential Rank Award from the Office of Personnel Management, 2002
  *Department of Commerce Gold Medal, 2002 (group awards)
  *Rabi Award of the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society, 2004
  *Légion d'Honneur Membership, 2004
  *Nobel Prize in Physics, 2005
  *Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, 2006
  *Doctor of Science, honoris causa, University of Glasgow, 2007