Academic legacy thumb|right|Carl Sagan, hired by Gold after Sagan was denied tenure at Harvard University in 1968 Throughout his academic career, Gold received a number of honors and distinctions. He was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (1948), the Royal Society (1964), the American Geophysical Union (1962), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1974), and the American Astronautical Society, a member of the American Philosophical Society (1972), the United States National Academy of Sciences (1974) and the International Academy of Astronautics, and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge (1986). In addition, he served as President of the New York Astronomical Society from 1981 to 1986. Gold won the John Frederick Lewis Award from the American Philosophical Society in 1972 for his paper "The Nature of the Lunar Surface: Recent Evidence". and the Humboldt Prize from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 1979.. In 1985, Gold won the prestigious Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, an award whose recipients include Fred Hoyle, Hermann Bondi, Martin Ryle, Edwin Hubble, James Van Allen, Fritz Zwicky, Hannes Alfvén and Albert Einstein.. Gold did not earn a doctorate, but received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Cambridge University in 1969..
Academic legacy thumb|right|Carl Sagan, hired by Gold after Sagan was denied tenure at Harvard University in 1968 Throughout his academic career, Gold received a number of honors and distinctions. He was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (1948), the Royal Society (1964), the American Geophysical Union (1962), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1974), and the American Astronautical Society, a member of the American Philosophical Society (1972), the United States National Academy of Sciences (1974) and the International Academy of Astronautics, and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge (1986). In addition, he served as President of the New York Astronomical Society from 1981 to 1986. Gold won the John Frederick Lewis Award from the American Philosophical Society in 1972 for his paper "The Nature of the Lunar Surface: Recent Evidence". and the Humboldt Prize from the Alexander von Humboldt Fou:ndation in 1979.. In 1985, Gold won the prestigious Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, an award whose recipients include Fred Hoyle, Hermann Bondi, Martin Ryle, Edwin Hubble, James Van Allen, Fritz Zwicky, Hannes Alfvén and Albert Einstein.. Gold did not earn a doctorate, but received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Cambridge University in 1969..