1977 Seaborg Award: Glen E. Gordon

Award Statement C&EN (Page 3)

Gordon received a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1956, his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1960.

Gordon took part in the production of element 102 and in the study of heavy-ion-induced fission and spallation reactions at Berkeley. Since then he has carried out research on the kinetic energy release and nuclear structure and radioactive decay of nuclei.

One of his outstanding contributions has been the development of instrumental techniques in nuclear work. He was the first to apply multinuclidic gamma-ray spectrum analysis using a Ge(Li) detector to the problem of determining fission ranges. He came up with a multielement instrumental neutron activation method to analyze rocks and minerals. He and his coworkers, including the National Bureau of Standards, developed instrumental photon activation analysis to make possible observation of some elements not observable by neutron irradiation.

Gordon’s most recent contribution is the development of neutron-capture prompt gamma-ray analysis for multielement analysis.

Gordon Memorial in ES&T