Gerald H Jacobs received a B.A. degree at University of Vermont in 1956 and a Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1963. Professor Jacobs has authored numerous journal papers and chapters on a wide range of topics dealing with vision and the visual system. Today, he is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of California Santa Barbara. He is a Fellow of the OSA and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an Honorary Fellow of the International Colour Vision Society, and an Emeritus Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

He has received numerous recognitions including the Rank Prize in Optoelectronics (1986), the UCSB Faculty Research Lectureship (1996), the Proctor Medal of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (1998), the Verriest Medal of the International Colour Vision Society (2009), and the Tillyer Award of the OSA (2012).