Neil Gordon

Neil Elbridge Gordon was an American chemist and educator. He founded the Journal of Chemical Education and established the Gordon Research Conferences.

Life and death

He held several Chair positions spanning his time at the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, Central College in Missouri, and Wayne State University.
On May 30, 1949, Gordon died by suicide from the roof of a "fashionable hotel" near downtown Detroit. Three policemen had tried unsuccessfully to prevent his leap. After his death the Gibson Island Conference, originally created by Gordon, was renamed the Gordon Research Conferences.