Article

John King Gordon

Published Online November 4, 2007

Last Edited December 15, 2013

John King Gordon (b at Winnipeg 6 Dec 1900; d at Ottawa 24 Feb 1989), son of Charles GORDON (pen name Ralph Connor). After studying at the universities of Manitoba, Oxford and the Union Theological Seminary, Gordon taught at United Theological College in Montréal.

Gordon, John King

John King Gordon (b at Winnipeg 6 Dec 1900; d at Ottawa 24 Feb 1989), son of Charles GORDON (pen name Ralph Connor). After studying at the universities of Manitoba, Oxford and the Union Theological Seminary, Gordon taught at United Theological College in Montréal. His departure from the college because of his socialist views provoked a notable debate on ACADEMIC FREEDOM. He was a founding member of the Fellowship for a Christian Social Order, the LEAGUE FOR SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION and the CO-OPERATIVE COMMONWEALTH FEDERATION.

In New York City he was managing editor of The Nation (1944-47) and joined the staff of the UN, serving it in critical times in Korea, the Middle East and the Congo. After 1962 he taught international relations at the universities of Alberta and Ottawa, was chairman of CUSO, president of the United Nations Association and an adviser to the International Development Research Centre.