Joseph Gordon II
Joseph Grover Gordon II | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 December 1945 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | 13 September 2013 (aged 67) Morgan Hill, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Chemist, researcher |
| Years active | 1970–2013 |
| Known for | Research in thin film technologies and battery science at IBM |
Joseph Grover Gordon II (December 25, 1945 – September 13, 2013) was a prominent American chemist who contributed significantly to firms such as IBM. A graduate of both Harvard and MIT, Gordon dedicated 33 years to IBM's Almaden Research Center, where his research concentrated on thin film technologies and advancements in battery science. Throughout his career, he was granted 12 patents, authored numerous publications, and earned multiple accolades, including the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers' Percy L. Julian Award.
Early life and family
Gordon was born in Nashville, Tennessee as the eldest among four siblings. His mother, an alumna of St. Augustine's College, worked as both an educator and a secretary for the Manhattan Project. His father served in the military during the Korean War before obtaining a medical degree from Meharry Medical College. He later became chief of radiology at Kate Bitting Reynolds Memorial Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Additionally, he held a teaching position at Wake Forest University and played a pivotal role in the desegregation of medical societies within North Carolina. In recognition of his contributions, Wake Forest established a scholarship fund bearing his name.
Education
A gifted scholar, Gordon attended Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, graduating in 1963 as one of only three Black students within a class of 240. He proceeded to Harvard University, where he earned a B.A. in physics and chemistry with cum laude honors in 1966. Under the mentorship of adviser Edgar Bright Wilson, he opted to specialize in graduate studies focusing on inorganic chemistry.
Following a summer internship in La Gaude, France, Gordon enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for graduate school under advisor Richard H. Holm. Initially concentrating on physical chemistry, he completed his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry in 1970. His dissertation explored "Stereochemistry and mechanisms of intra-molecular rearrangements of tris-chelate complexes." During this period, he was also awarded a fellowship from the National Science Foundation.
Early career
Upon receiving his doctorate, Gordon accepted a position as an assistant professor and researcher at the California Institute of Technology, serving from 1970 to 1975. In 1971, he briefly joined the United States Navy but returned to Caltech in 1972. Although he faced challenges reestablishing his research program there, a summer sabbatical at IBM led to an employment opportunity.
Time at IBM
Gordon joined IBM's Almaden Research Center located in San Jose, California as a research staff member with a focus on thin films. Over time, he rose through the ranks to management, heading a team for roughly a decade dedicated to developing experimental techniques and methodologies related to interfacial electrochemistry.
In recognition of his problem-solving skills with printed circuit board challenges in IBM mainframes, Gordon received the IBM Research Division Award in 1984. Four years later, he was honored with the IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award for his work on interfacial electrochemistry.
Elevated to manager of IBM's Materials Science Department in 1990, Gordon managed administrative responsibilities alongside continued research efforts and scholarly publications through the mid-1990s. By 2000, he had become a technical staff member and served as chief of staff to the laboratory director at Almaden Research Center. His contributions earned him IBM Technical Group Awards in both 1997 and 2004 for investigations into water molecule behavior and photopolymerized sol-gel materials.
Between 2004 and his departure from IBM in 2009, Gordon held various senior leadership positions, ultimately serving as Senior Manager for Materials for Advanced Technology. During this tenure, he tackled lithium-ion battery fire problems impacting IBM’s (now Lenovo's) Think Pad laptop line.
Post-IBM Career
In 2009, Gordon accepted a position at Applied Materials located in Santa Clara, California, after being recruited by the company's Chief Technology Officer. His role centered on uncovering emerging business prospects within the energy storage field and guiding the organization's strategic initiatives in this area.
Affiliations and Honors
Over the span of his professional journey, Gordon maintained active involvement with prominent organizations including the American Chemical Society, National Research Council, Electrochemical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, NOBCChE, and the Society for Analytical Chemistry. In 2000, he was honored as a fellow of the American Physical Society.
His achievements were acknowledged in notable industry journals such as U.S. Black Engineer, Professional, and Black Enterprise. Among his awards are the 1993 Percy L. Julian Award from NOBCChE recognizing his impactful scientific work and the 1990 "Outstanding Technical Contribution" accolade from U.S. Black Engineer.
Gordon also played leadership roles in significant industry gatherings, serving as chair for the 1987 Gordon Research Conference on Electrochemistry and co-organizing various symposia under the Electrochemical Society.
Personal Background
Gordon married Ruth in 1972 after their initial meeting in Winston-Salem and subsequent reconnection at Cal Tech. The couple had one son named Perry.
He passed away at age 67 on September 13, 2013, in Morgan Hill, California.
Selected Publications
- Barz, F., Gordon, J. G., Philpott, M. R., & Weaver, M. J. (1982). Influence of laser illumination on oxidation-reduction cycles affecting surface-enhanced Raman scattering at silver electrodes. Chemical Physics Letters, 91(4), 291–295.
- Kanazawa, K. K., & Gordon, J. G. (1985). Frequency oscillations of quartz resonators interfacing with liquids. 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). Two-dimensional mathematical modeling for large electrochromic windows—Part I. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 120, 1–8.
- Pettinger, B., Philpott, M. R., & Gordon, J. G. (1981). Surface-enhanced Raman spectra of water adsorbed 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). Electrochemical characterization and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of interfaces. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry and Interfacial Electrochemistry, 160(1–2), 321–333.