Global Achievement Award

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Gilbert Gordon

Narrative: Dr. Gordon has had a spectacular career as a renowned chemist. He began his career with the University of Maryland, serving as an Assistant Professor from 1960 to 1964, an Associate Professor from 1964 to 1967 and a Professor in 1967. His career continued with the University of Iowa from 1967 to 1973 as a full Professor.

Dr. Gordon traveled overseas as a Visiting Professor and a was a guest of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in 1969 and again in 1984. He served as both a Professor and Chair with the Department of Chemistry at Miami University from 1973 to 1984. In addition, he served as the Volwiler Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus from 1984 to 2003 and continues to serve as a Distinguished Research Professor since then.

Dr. Gordon specializes in drinking water research, dynamics of chemical reactions, reactions of chlorine dioxide, chlorine and ozone and all aspects of analytical chemistry. Some of Dr. Gordon's major career accomplishments include developing an experimental methodology for the determination of "free" and "complexed" labile transition metal ion species in aqueous solutions. He also directed research to measure the rates of reaction and the rates of decomposition of chlorine dioxide in aqueous solutions. The chemical details of these studies continue to be used extensively by the water treatment industry throughout the world, to provide higher quality drinking water when using chlorine dioxide. Dr. Gordon demonstrated how non-linear least-squares mathematical techniques could be used for the fitting and chemical modeling of rates of reaction of multi-component redox species. In addition, he utilized Flow Injection Analysis as a technique to measure low-level concentrations of ozone, free available chlorine, chlorite ion and chlorine dioxide in drinking water and wastewater.

Additional accomplishments include co-editing a definitive, 800-page review entitled, "Disinfectant Residual Measurements Methods", used by drinking water utilities in the United States, Canada and Europe. As a specialized expert in his field, Dr. Gordon described how a detailed understanding of the chemistry of inorganic redox reactions could be used to prepare better quality drinking water less expensively.

Dr. Gordon has published numerous works including co-authoring "Measuring Oxidant Species in Electrolyzed Salt Brine Solutions", "A Comparison of Sulfite Ion and Reduced Iron for the Removal of Bromate Ion", "Preliminary Data on the Fate of Bromate Ion in Simulated Gastric Juices" and "Bleach 2001". He also was the author of "Residual Ozone Measurement: Indigo Sensitivity Coefficient Adjustment".

Dr. Gordon has received a number of honors and awards during his career including Chemist of the Year, 1981 and Distinguished Scientist, 1982, both from the American Chemical Society, Sigma Xi Researcher of the Year, 1982, Miami University Chapter, the Bradley University Distinguished Alumnus of 1986, the Prestigious Miami University Benjamin Harrison Medallion, 1993, for Outstanding National and International Contributions to Education and Research, the Bradley University College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumnus Award, 2001 and the Miami University Distinguished Scholar Award, 2002, in Recognition of Outstanding Achievements in Research and Scholarly Achievements.

Dr. Gordon is a member of various associations and societies including The American Chemical Society; Fellow, American Institute of Chemists and the Ohio Academy of Science; American Water Works Association; Chemical Society of London; Life Member, Phi Kappa Phi; Omicron Delta Kappa and Sigma Xi.

Dr. Gordon received a B.S. in Chemistry from Bradley University in 1955 and a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry and Mathematics, Michigan State University, 1959 and in Postdoctoral Studies at the University of Chicago, 1960. He is married to his wife, Joyce since 1957 and resides in Oxford, Ohio where he enjoys wine tasting, evaluation and collecting.

Title: Professor Emeritus/Co-Founder
Industry: Education/Consulting
Type of Organization: University/Independent Consulting Firm
Major Product/Service: Higher education; Consulting in matters involving chemical disinfection, emphasizing water treatment for clients in the chemical, industrial, pharmaceutical and consumer product companies, healthcare institutions, municipal water utilities, consulting engineering firms and agencies of the U.S. government
Expertise: Dr. Gordon specializes in drinking water research, dynamics of chemical reactions (chemical kinetics), reactions of chlorine dioxide, chlorine and ozone (disinfectants and oxidizing agents) and all aspects of analytical chemistry. Dr. Gordon also serves as a Principal of Gordon & Rosenblatt, an independent consulting firm formed with his partner, Aaron Rosenblatt, who is Co-Founder of the firm. From 1994 to 2009, he was the chairman of CDG Technology, Inc. and CDG Research Corporation. Previously, he was founder of The Scopas Technology Company, a chlorine dioxide research and development firm. Mr. Rosenblatt is the inventor or co-inventor of 20+ U.S. patents, patents pending and corresponding foreign patents. He is also the author of a number of scientific and technical papers on chlorine dioxide. He belongs to several professional associations affiliated with the industry.
Geographic Area of Distribution: International
Affiliations: American Chemical Society; Fellow, American Institute of Chemists; American Water Works Association; Chemical Society of London; Fellow, Ohio Academy of Science; Life Member, Phi Kappa Phi; Omicron Delta Kappa; Sigma Xi
University/Degree: B.S., Chemistry, Bradley University, 1955; Ph.D., Inorganic Chemistry and Mathematics, Michigan State University, 1959; Postdoctoral Studies, University of Chicago, 1959-1960
Born: November 11, 1933, Chicago, Illinois
Hobbies/Sports: Wine tasting, evaluation and collecting
Spouse: Joyce Elaine Gordon
Married: September 14, 1957
Children: Thomas Mark Gordon, Lyndi Ann Gordon
Work History: Dr. Gordon began his career with the University of Maryland, serving as an Assistant Professor from 1960 to 1964, an Associate Professor from 1964 to 1967 and as a Professor in 1967. He continued as a full Professor with the University of Iowa from 1967 to 1973, traveling overseas as a Visiting Professor and guest of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science during 1969 and 1984. He was both a Professor and Chair with the Department of Chemistry at Miami University from 1973 to 1984 and served as the Volwiler Distinguished Research Professor from 1984-2003. He has served as a Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus since 2003. He is a Founding Partner of Gordon & Rosenblatt, LLC an independent chlorine dioxide consulting organization.
Honors & Awards: Chemist of the Year, Cincinnati Section, American Chemical Society, 1981; Distinguished Scientist, Technical Societies Council, American Chemical Society, Cincinnati Chapter, 1982; Sigma Xi Researcher of the Year, Miami University Chapter, 1982; Bradley University Distinguished Alumnus of 1986; The Prestigious Miami University Benjamin Harrison Medallion, May 1993 for Outstanding National and International Contributions to Education and Research; Bradley University College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumnus Award, 2001; Miami University Distinguished Scholar Award in Recognition of Outstanding Achievements in Research and Scholarly Achievements, August 2002; The Morton Klein Award, 2011
Published Works: Numerous including, Co-author, "Measuring Oxidant Species in Electrolyzed Salt Brine Solutions", J.Am.Water Works, 94 (10), 111-120, 2002; Author, "Residual Ozone Measurement: Indigo Sensitivity Coefficient Adjustment", Ozone Science & Engineering, 24, 17-28, 2002; Co-author, "A Comparison of Sulfite Ion and Reduced Iron for the Removal of Bromate Ion", J.Am.Water Works, 94 (2), 91-98, 2002; Co-Author, "An Improved Method for the Determination of Chlorine Dioxide and Chlorite Ion in Drinking Water Using Lissamine Green B and Horseradish Peroxidase", Analytica Chemica Acta, 2006, 596, 37-45; Co-Author, "Preliminary Data on the Fate of Bromate Ion in Simulated Gastric Juices", Ozone: Science and Engineering, 2006, 28, (165-170); Co-Author, "Bleach 2001", J.Am.Water Works, 2001
Career Accomplishments: Dr. Gordon developed an experimental methodology for the determination of "free" and "complexed" labile transition metal ion species in aqueous solutions. He directed research to measure the rates of reaction and rates of decomposition of chlorine dioxide in aqueous solution. The chemical details of these studies are used extensively by the water treatment industry throughout the world to provide higher quality drinking water when using chlorine dioxide. Dr. Gordon demonstrated how non-linear, least-squares mathematical techniques could be used for the fitting and chemical modeling of rates of reaction of multi-component redox species. He utilized Flow Injection Analysis as a technique to measure low-level concentrations of ozone, free available chlorine, chlorite ion, chlorite ion, and chlorine dioxide in drinking water and waste water. He co-edited a definitive 800 page review entitled "Disinfectant Residual Measurements Methods" which is used by drinking water utilities in United States, Canada, and Europe. Dr. Gordon specialized as an expert describing how a detailed understanding of the chemistry of inorganic redox reactions could be used to prepare better quality drinking water less expensively.