Member

Gordon was born on August 15, 1909, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He attended Hamline University, Saint Paul, and received a BS degree in biology in 1932 and then did graduate work in zoology at the University of Minnesota from 1932 to 1935. He served as a lieutenant in the Navy as a malaria control officer in the Pacific theater during World War II. He noted that the Navy had more casualties from malaria than they did from the Japanese, and controlling malaria was very important for victory in the Pacific theater. Gordon was a biologist supervisor, Civilian Conservation Corps, Minnesota State Forests from 1935 to 1936 and a biologist with the Game and Fish Division of the Minnesota Conservation Department from 1935 to 1941. He worked as an assistant professor in wildlife at Purdue University from 1941 to 1947. Gordon was the regional supervisor, River Basin Studies, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Atlanta, Georgia from 1947 to 1952. He made significant contributions to knowledge about America’s wetland habitats as a wildlife research biologist supervisor from 1952 to 1955. He transferred in 1955 to the National Park Service as principal naturalist (biology), where his interest in the application of ecological principles influenced the Service’s research and wildlife management programs. As principal park planner, he served in the Mission 66 program, from 1962 to 1964 and became chief of the National Park Service’s Division of International Affairs in 1964. Gordon helped organize and expand student conservation programs and helped develop the service’s policy leading to increased international activities. He assisted in the establishment of the Latin American Committee on National Parks and organized the Inter-American Conference on Renewable Natural Resources in Argentina and a joint United States-Japan Park Management Panel. Gordon was a charter member of The Wildlife Society, serving as executive secretary, 1960-63, vice president, 1966-67, and was elected honorary member in 1964. He received U.S. Department of the Interior Distinguished Service Award in 1967. He coauthored Wetlands of the United States: Their Extent and Their Value to Waterfowl and Other Wildlife, published in 1956. He retired from the National Park Service in 1973 after serving as staff director for the Second World Conference on National Parks in 1972. As a volunteer, he was assistant editor of Parks Magazine from 1973 to 1978. Gordon was executive director of the Renewable Natural Resources Foundation from 1975 to 1981. Subsequently he became coordinator of the volunteer advisory staff for the American Fisheries Society and received its Distinguished Service Award in 1983. He served as a volunteer for the American Fisheries Society during the 1990s. He married Edith Handy, his wife of 72 years, in June of 1934. They honeymooned in Yellowstone National Park, where he was a seasonal park ranger. They had a son, Jack, and a daughter, Patt. They had four grandchildren, two boys and two girls. Gordon was elected to the Washington Biologists’ Field Club in 1956, was president from 1973 to 1976, and was selected as an honorary member in 1985. Gordon died at home on August 8, 2006, from cancer of the larynx. He had a great love for Plummers Island and all the islanders. His family chose to have a private service and his ashes were dispersed on Plummers Island.