Among his writings were "Algebraic cohomology and deformation theory," with SD Schack, Deformation theory of algebras and structures and applications, 11–264 (1988), "On the deformation of rings and algebras," Annals of Mathematics, Second Series, Vol. 79, No. 1 (Jan., 1964), pp. 59–103, and "The cohomology structure of an associative ring," Annals of Mathematics, Second Series, Vol. 78, 267–288 (1963). For these last two papers he received in 2021 the Leroy P. Steele Prize for Seminal Contribution to Research. Gerstenhaber noted in 1990: “The ability to hang in there has a lot to do with scientific productivity, I am convinced. And in mathematics … hanging in there is a solitary accomplishment.”