AMHERST – Joel Gordon was born May 9, 1930, in Denver, Colorado. Initially living in Colorado Springs, his family moved to California, eventually settling in Berkeley for his high school years. A 1952 graduate of Harvard University, he continued his studies as a Rotary Scholar at Magdalene College, Cambridge (UK), and received a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, all in physics.

In 1953, while attending Magdalene, he met Pamela (Pomma) Wonfor. They married three years later in Berkeley and then moved to Amherst in the fall of 1957 to begin a career of more than 50 years at Amherst College as a professor of physics. A dedicated teacher, he was appointed the Stone Professor of Natural Science in 2000.

Joel and Pomma, lovers of immersing themselves in new places, took full advantage of his “research opportunities” spending sabbatical years in England (twice), Colombia (where he was instrumental in establishing the Physics Department at Universidad del Valle in Cali), France and Berkeley, summers in Colombia, Long Island and Berkeley, and conferences in Mexico City, Tokyo, and San Diego to name a few. They continued their excursions in retirement with retracing the Mayan civilization in Central America and traveling the route of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage as particular highlights.

Joel died August 10, 2021, at the age of 91. He is predeceased by his beloved wife Pomma, and survived by their two sons, Peter Gordon of Hong Kong and Stephen Gordon of Amherst, and by their five grandsons.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Hospice of the Fisher Home, 1165 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01002.