Joseph Gordon II

Joseph Grover Gordon II (December 25, 1945 – September 13, 2013) was an American chemist who worked for several companies, including IBM. A graduate of both Harvard and MIT, Gordon spent 33 years working at IBM's Almaden Research Center. Gordon's work was centered around thin films and batteries, and he was credited with 12 patents and more than 50 publications in his career. Gordon published multiple papers during his lifetime and was honored with multiple awards, including the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers' Percy L. Julian Award. There is a scholarship fund named in honor of the elder Gordon at Wake Forest University.

Education Gordon was a talented student, and in the tenth grade was invited to go to Phillips Exeter Academy, a boarding school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Gordon was one of three Black students in his class of 240, and described the experience as a "culture shock"; nevertheless, he recalled the experience fondly, and participated in several sports.

After a summer internship in La Gaude, France, in the summer of 1966, Gordon enrolled in the graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall. His advisor was Richard H. Holm. Gordon was also awarded a fellowship from the National Science Foundation during this time. Gordon also won multiple awards during his career. In 1993, NOBCChE named him the winner of the Percy L. Julian Award; the award honors Black scientists and engineers who make significant contributions to their fields. In addition, U.S. Black Engineer awarded Gordon with their "Outstanding Technical Contribution" award in 1990.

Gordon chaired or organized multiple conferences and symposiums during his career, including chairing the Gordon Research Conference on Electrochemistry in 1987 and co-organizing symposiums for the Electrochemical Society.

Personal life Gordon married his wife, Ruth, in 1972; they met in Winston-Salem but reconnected during his time at Caltech. They had one son, Perry.

Gordon died on September 13, 2013, in Morgan Hill, California. He was 67.

Selected works

Barz, F., Gordon, J. G., Philpott, M. R., & Weaver, M. J. (1982). Effect of laser illumination oxidation-reduction cycles upon surface-enhanced Raman scaterring from silver electrodes. Chemical Physics Letters, 91(4), 291–295. Kanazawa, K. K., & Gordon, J. G. (1985). The oscillation frequency of a quartz resonator in contact with liquid. Analytica Chimica Acta, 175, 99–105. Liu, Y., Sun, L., Sikha, G., Isidorsson, J., Lim, S., Anders, A., Kwak, B. L., & Gordon, J. G. (2014). 2-D mathematical modeling for a large electrochromic window—part I. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 120, 1–8. Pettinger, B., Philpott, M. R., & Gordon, J. G. (1981). Further observations of the surface enhanced Raman spectrum of water on silver and copper electrodes. Surface Science, 105(2–3), 469–474. Weaver, M. J., Hupp, J. T., Barz, F., Gordon, J. G., & Philpott, M. R. (1984). Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of electrochemically characterized interfaces. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry and Interfacial Electrochemistry, 160(1–2), 321–333.