James Lawrie Gordon

Son of James and Margaret Gordon. Loving husband of Vera Glynn (Predeceased). Proud father of Howard (Anjana), Graham (Carol), Fiona and grandfather to Trent and Quinn. Predeceased by his younger brother Ian (Lynn), and uncle to Keith and Heather.

Jim was born and raised in Rosario, Argentina. The politics of the time required all Ex-Pats to return to their native countries which led Jim back to Scotland where he enrolled in Civil Engineering at the University of Aberdeen. Jim graduated with a B. Sc. Eng. (First Class Honours in civil engineering) Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1952.

Jim immigrated to Canada and began his career with the Montreal Engineering Company (Monenco) in 1952 and retired as vice president hydro in 1990. Following his retirement, he worked as a hydro consultant until 2018. During his distinguished career of more than 60 years, he visited 202 hydro developments and worked on 117 in over 15 countries. He authored or co-authored 94 papers, along with writing 53 articles published in Hydro Review Worldwide.

His achievements were numerous and varied. He was the first Canadian to be awarded the Rickey Gold Medal (1989) from the American Society of Civil Engineers “for outstanding contributions to the advancement of hydroelectric engineering”. Elected Fellow (1989) by the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering in “recognition of his excellence in engineering.” Canadian Electricity Association Distinguished Service Award (1999) for “his contributions to the hydropower industry and the engineering profession”. Jim is known for the development of the formula to determine the weight of a hydro electric generator rotor. This equation became known as the ‘Gordon Formula’. In his eighties, Jim designed a commercial software tool to estimate hydropower development costs which was distributed worldwide. Jim donated the program to the University of Toronto with U of T creating a Engineering Scholarship in his honour.

He was described by fellow Engineers as an “Engineer’s Engineer.” and continued to consult until the age of 87.

Jim had a strong love for his family, and he especially enjoyed visiting his grandchildren Trent and Quinn in Ottawa. He enjoyed watching their numerous sports and sharing family dinners with many boisterous stories reminiscing about his worldwide adventures. Jim loved to plan family holidays and was happiest when he was surrounded by family. Jim will be greatly missed by his Family, Friends, and Colleagues.

Visitation will be held at Collins Clarke MacGillivray White Funeral Homes, 222 Autoroute 20 in Pointe Claire, Quebec, on Thursday October 12th from 2pm to 6pm.