Gordon, Douglas (1911 - 1993)

Summary

Douglas Gordon was one of the founders of occupational medicine in Australia. His interests were in workplace safety and diseases (especially in mines, abattoirs and cane fields), and the epidemiology of skin cancer, for which he was known internationally. He was one of the first to express concern about ozone depletion. Gordon's writings include the social medicine textbook Health, sickness and society (1976) and papers on medial history. After ten years as Director of Industrial Medicine for the Queensland Department of Health he was appointed inaugural Professor of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Queensland. Medical sociology and occupational medicine became integral to the courses taught to all students. He successfully argued for the need for a Chair of Community Practice at the University, and was influential in the establishment of Departments of Anthropology, Sociology and Social Work. For many years Gordon played a key role in the Queensland Cancer Fund and chaired its Medical and Scientific Advisory committee.

Details

Chronology

1942

Education - MB BS, University of Queensland

1942 - 1943

Career position - Resident Medical Officer, Mater Hospital, Brisbane and Ipswich Hospital

1943 - 1945

Career position - Served with the Royal Australian Air Force

1946 - 1957

Career position - Director of Industrial Medicine, Queensland Health Department

1957 - 1967

Career position - Member of Council, Queensland Branch, British Medical Association

1957 - 1976

Career position - Foundation Professor of Social and Preventive medicine, University of Queensland

1961

Award - Jackson Oration, Queensland Branch, British Medical Association

1962 - 1967

Career position - Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland

1968 - 1993

Career position - Fellow, Royal Australasian College of Physicians

1969

Award - Bancroft Oration, Australian Medical Association Queensland

1976

Life event - Retired

1978

Career position - Fellow, Royal Australian College of Medial Administrators

1986

Award - Doctor of Medicine (MD), honoris causa, University of Queensland

1992

Award - Honorary Fellow, Australian Faculty of Public Health Medicine

1993

Award - Honorary Fellow, Australian Faculty of Occupational Medicine

Related entries

Archival resources

John Oxley Library, Manuscripts and Business Records Collection, State Library of Queensland

• Douglas Gordon - Records, 1863 - 1908, OM78-22/1; John Oxley Library, Manuscripts and Business Records Collection, State Library of Queensland. Details

Published resources

Books

• Gordon, Douglas, Mad Dogs and Englishmen Went out in the Queensland Sun: Health Aspects of the Settlement of Tropical Queensland (Brisbane: Amphion Press, 1990), 114 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Mackenzie, Marion, 'Gordon, Douglas (1911-1993), medical practitioner and educator' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 19: 1991 - 1995 A-Z, Melanie Nolan, ed. (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2021), pp. 317-319, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gordon-douglas-18622. Details

Journal Articles

• Lancaster, H. O.; and Gordon, D., 'Health and Medicine in Australia, 1788-1988', Reference Australia, 2 (May) (1988), 21-49. Details
• Pearn, John H., 'Professor Emeritus Douglas Gordon', Medical Journal of Australia, 160 (1994), 299. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q48514726. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/267506736. Details
• 'Gordon, Douglas (19110419-19930927)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-555833. Details
• 'Awarded honorary MD, 1986 [Citation provided]', Honorary awards recipients, University of Queensland, 2023, https://alumni.uq.edu.au/awards/honorary-awards-previous-recipients. Details