J. King Gordon

Who was J. King Gordon?

John King Gordon, CM was a Canadian editor, diplomat, and academic.

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the son of Charles William Gordon, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba in 1920. A Rhodes scholar, he studied at Oxford University from 1920 to 1921. He was a United Church of Canada minister in Manitoba. From 1931 to 1935, he was a professor of Christian ethics at the Union Theological Seminary in Montreal.

In 1933, he was one of the authors of the Regina Manifesto and was involved in the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. From 1944 to 1947, he was an editor of the The Nation magazine. From 1947 to 1950, he was the United Nations correspondent for the CBC. From 1950 to 1962, he was the human rights and information officer for the United Nations Secretariat.

From 1962 to 1967, he taught international relations at the University of Alberta.

In 1977, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada. He was the 1980 recipient of the Pearson Medal of Peace for his work in peacekeeping.