"Pioneer" in the field of environmental health made a brilliant career

Copyright © 2022 Albuquerque Magazine

Family and friends have described Larry Gordon as a "pioneer" and "legend" in environmental health.

Gordon wrote legislation creating the state's Environmental Improvement Agency, now called the New Mexico Department of the Environment. He also helped establish the state science laboratory system and the Albuquerque Department of Environmental Health, where he served twice as director.

Gordon, who died April 29 in Albuquerque at the age of 95, served in the administration of four governors of New Mexico as well as several Albuquerque mayors.

His colleagues said he was an "inspiring leader" and educator, as well as a scientist who has written more than 240 scientific papers published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

His son, Gary Gordon of Santa Fe, described his father as a "loving and kind family man" and a passionate outdoorsy man who enjoys hunting, quail hunting, and hiking.

Gordon served as Cabinet Secretary for Health and the Environment under former Governor Gary Carothers.

"He was probably the least important political figure I appointed in government," Carothers said. “He was chosen for his expertise. He was very professional and made a great contribution. I was a huge fan of him.”

Mesa del Sol CEO David Campbell was an aide to former Albuquerque Mayor Harry Kenny when he met Gordon, who led the city's preservation efforts.

"He was a loving and caring man, and I consider him professionally a pioneer of the environmental movement in New Mexico," Campbell said. "He was really one of the first to realize the important role of the state in protecting the environment, and under his leadership we started programs like monitoring vehicle emissions. He was actively involved in keeping the air and water clean, but he didn't make it." In a way the government was at the center of that protection.

For a time, Gordon served as a captain in the United States Public Health Service, "radiation hunting in the desert," in the words of his son Gary.

"He traveled to Nevada while ground tests were still underway at the time and led the teams to find out which direction the radiation was blasting and, if necessary, evacuate towns or farms. Because of this experience, he showed compassion and gave his time and energy to the people downwind of the Tularosa Basin, who were similarly affected by the explosions at the Trinity site.

Gordon retired as Associate Professor of Government and Political Science at the University of New Mexico, where he also served as a Visiting Professor of Government and Senior Fellow at the Institute of Public Policy.

According to his son, the visionary Gordon talked about climate change, global warming, and the melting of the polar ice caps long before it became a major topic of discussion.

"My dad found out and talked about it, then joked that all he got in return were cockroaches. He wrote articles and gave speeches, and people around him didn't even understand them. I know it was disgusting to him." .

Deborah MacFarlane, a professor of political science at UNM, said she has studied public health and was familiar with Gordon's work long before she met him.

"I was in the University of Michigan graduate school and I read your material. In public health, he was well known across the country. I still teach some of his articles in my class."

MacFarlane said he taught Gordon how to use computers. "He must have been in his 60s at the time and said he was going to die soon, so I didn't have to know about them. He said, 'He had five secretaries,' and I said, 'Well, there aren't any here, and the people we have are not very good. . So you have three computers left.

After graduating from college, Russell Rhodes began working with Gordon in the city's Department of Environmental Health. Gordon "helped me get into graduate school at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health," he says.

Gordon persuaded Rhodes to return to the department after completing his thesis. “It was kind of his management style. He did everything he could to help people develop professionally, hoping to come back to work on his shows,” Rhodes said. Focus on achieving professional goal and responsibility while encouraging and supporting his team. He was truly an inspiring leader and created a vibrant (work) culture.”

Bruce Aitchison of Farmington never met Gordon, but the two became reporter friends. Eitchison worked in the United States Public Health Service for 30 years and knew Gordon by name and reputation.

“He was kind of the father of environmental hygiene,” he said.

Eitchison volunteered to help Gordon edit his memoir Adventures in Environmental Protection and Defense, which was published in 2020. The book includes stories detailing how Gordon solved problems with Agent Orange, DDT, uranium mines, paper mills, and measurements of the consequences of nuclear weapons. and tobacco control.

“He also recounts his childhood with pioneer parents who were teachers and administrators in those small communities that no longer existed East Gallup, and how they dug their own wells and built their own classrooms and homes,” said Eitchison.

Gordon was born near Tipton, Oklahoma and was two years old when the family moved to New Mexico. As a young man, he worked as a farm breeder and then as a pasture manager at the Bureau of Land Management.

After three semesters in college, he joined the United States Army during World War II and worked as an orderly at Bethesda Naval Hospital. On his release, he attended UNM and earned a bachelor's degree and then a master's degree in biology. In 2007, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from UNM University.

He met Nidra Kalindar during his college years. They married in 1950 and have three children. The couple had been married for 67 years when she passed away in 2017.

Gordon served as President of the American Public Health Association and received APHA's highest honor, the Sedgwick Award for his contributions to public health. Abroad, he has received the Distinguished Public Service Award du gouverneur du Nouveau-Mexique, the UNM Zimmerman Award, the University of Michigan Distinguished Alumni Award, and this Honorary Member of the Royal Society for Health Promotion in the UK.

Larry Gordon is survived by his sons Gary Gordon and his wife Terry Chiron of Santa Fe; Kent Gordon and his wife Ellie from Santa Clara, California; Daughter of Debbie Dunlap of Albuquerque; Four daughters, one grandson, one granddaughter, one grandson, and one great-grandchild.

His remains were cremated and he will be buried with the ashes of Nadra in the same grave. There will be no public service.