Robert Gordon

[from Nat's Gordon History:]

"There was another Gordon, Pop's brother, Uncle Sam whose wife, Aunt Annie had met him in England. How this connection came about is unknown to me. They had 2 sons; Nathaniel and Izzy, as we knew him a long time ago - He suffered with a condition we were told was asthma and his mother was advised to take him to Arizona where the climate would be most beneficial for that condition. Here too the events are hazy. I think that Nathaniel was cared for by the Hindin family as Uncle Sam had to work. Izzy is now Bob and lives in California where he and his wife raised their children. I think he became a highly educated engineer and was in New York some years ago and a family gathering gave us the chance to meet him. My memory is vague but I think he too wanted a family tree and asked all of his cousins to write what we knew. I believe I did so but have no souvenir of what I sent."

[JBA:]

from Robert Gordon's obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sgvtribune/obituary.aspx?n=robert-...

GORDON-Robert Gordon, Former Pasadena area resident, died January 18 following several years of declining health. In recent years, he had been living the Pilgrim Haven Retirement Community in Los Altos, California.

Dr. Gordon was born and raised in New York City, the son of Eastern European Jewish immigrants. After earning a BS in Mechanical Engineering at Cooper Union, he married Malla Wishman, also of New York City, and they moved to Dayton Ohio, where he had a job testing German aircraft engines for the Army Air Corps. During World War II, he served in the European Theater of Operations as a navigator on a B-17 bomber, completing 30 combat missions. Following the war, Bob and Malla settled in Southern California, where he helped pioneer the space age, inventing innovative rocket engines for Aerojet General Corporation. One of these engines is now on display in at the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C.

In the 1950's rocket pioneer Theodore Von Karman convinced Aerojet to send Bob to UC Berkeley where he completed a PhD in Nuclear Engineering. After managing Aerojet's nuclear facility in San Ramon for several years, he eventually returned first to Sierra Madre and later Arcadia. Still working for Aerojet, he continued to innovate at the intersection of the space age and the age of nuclear energy. In 1971, he founded Structural Composite Industries, a technology spin-off from Aerojet. Today SCI is the worlds largest producer of high pressure composite cylinders.

After retiring from SCI in 1984, Bob and Malla continued to pursue their lifelong passion for sailing, with trips to the Greek Isles and the Caribbean. The arrival of grandchildren in the 70's and 80's brought about a renewed focus on family, with frequent gatherings both in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. Bob and Malla were active members and supporters of the Pasadena Jewish Temple. A series of intense discussions with the Rabbi there started Bob thinking about the relationship between ethics and evolution, a passion that would fill much of his latter years.

Reinventing himself as an author, Bob co-authored "Aerojet: The Creative Company", a history of Aerojet and the early days of rocketry. In 2001, Bob & Malla moved to Pilgrim Haven in northern California to be closer to their daughter. While there he wrote two additional books, "Ethics Based on the Science of Evolution: Nature and Nurture" and an autobiography. He also became an active member of the Humanist Community of Silicon Valley.

Although his health had been declining for some time, his quick death from heart failure on the morning of January 18 was sudden and unexpected. Engineer & innovator, husband, father & grandfather, entrepreneur & author, he will be sorely missed.

He is survived by Malla, his wife of 65 years, their children Stuart Gordon of Long Beach and Peri Frantz of Los Gatos, and four grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on January 25, at 11:00 AM in the Fellowship Hall, Pilgrim Haven, 373 Pine Lane, Los Altos. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Humanist Community, at PO Box 60069, Palo Alto, CA 94306.

Published in San Gabriel Valley Tribune on January 23, 2007

[JBA:]

From his author page at: http://bookstore.authorhouse.com/Author/Default.aspx?BookworksSId=S...

Robert Gordon was born on June 23, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York and raised in the lower East Side of Manhattan and later in the west Bronx.

He studied engineering at the Cooper Union in New York City. He graduated in 1940 with a BS in mechanical engineering. His first exposure to rocketry was via a senior study project on rocket powered airplanes. Gordon concluded that they were not feasible. Exposure to V-1s and V-2s in Europe during W.W.II and participating in a raid on Penemunda showed that he did not deserve an A for his senior project.

He joined Aerojet Engineering Corporation in Azusa in July of 1945. He worked on liquid propellant rocket engines and rotating space power systems. He refused an assignment to a nuclear project because he knew nothing nuclear and was sent back to school in July of 1955.

At UC Berkeley, he learned all about neutrons, protons, electrons, and nuclear reactors. Gordon did his thesis at the Lawrence Livermore Radiation Laboratory and received a Ph.D. in engineering science in September of 1962. He then worked at Aerojet General Nucleonic in San Ramon on small mobile nuclear power plants for the Army and NASA, where he became the vice president and technical director. In June, 1965, he was transferred back to Azusa because of a severe problem with the Snap 8 nuclear program.

In Azusa, he became the Head of Mechanical Operations and was responsible for a space nuclear power system, advanced composite structures, and small free-flooded submarines used in naval covert operations. This is when he learned to scuba dive.

With a new Aerojet management installed in 1970, he did not see any future for mechanical operation in an electronics division. After much discussion, he and two associates purchased the Advanced Composite Division and left Aerojet in May of 1970 to become entrepreneurs. The division was renamed Structural Composites Industries (SCI).

The goal of SCI was to convert aerospace technology to commercial products. Solid rocket motor cases were redesigned to be high pressure gas containers. SCI went from 95% aerospace to 90% commercial and is today, the world’s major supplier of light weight, high pressure composite gas cylinders. Operating in the commercial world was exciting, and being under-financed was very challenging. An excellent offer induced the sale of SCI in May, 1983.

Retired and recovering from open heart, by-pass surgery in August, 1984, he turned his attention to writing a book of ethics based on science.