Gordon has retired from the USDA Forest Service after working there for 40 years as a Staff Engineer and Project Manager. He received a BS in Civil Engineering from UCLA in 1968, served as an officer in the U.S. Navy for two years, and then received a MS in Geotechnical Engineering from U.C. Berkeley in 1972.
Throughout his career he has worked extensively with slope stability, retaining structures, foundations, quarry location and development, highway materials, surface and subsurface drainage, erosion control measures, bridges and culvert design and repairs, environmental issues, and storm damage repairs, particularly related to low-volume roads. Over the past 20 years he has done a large amount of training on rural roads design and roads engineering best practices both for the Federal Government and organizations in Latin America, Africa, Australia, China, India, and the Western Pacific. He has supported the work of international organizations such as World Bank, Rainforest Alliance, and the International Road Federation and published numerous papers on various aspects of geotechnical engineering and minimum impact low-volume roads design.