The Gibbs surname is British in origin, principally of England and Scotland, and of the first of the European settlers to come to the Americas. Lt. John Gibbs was an American settler and early member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. Josiah Willard Gibbs was an American theoretical physicist, chemist, and mathematician who devised much of the theoretical foundation for chemical thermodynamics as well as physical chemistry. As a mathematician, he invented vector analysis and received the first P.h.D. in engineering afrom Yale University. The John Gibbs House in Kalamazoo, Michigan serves as an avenue towards environmental stewardship and sustainability that is rarely accessed in formal education or community engagement.