Obituary of Daniel Israel Gordon

Daniel Israel Gordon, 86, a research physicist with the Navy, died of an intracerebral hemorrhage March 5 at Sibley Memorial Hospital. He lived in Chevy Chase.

He specialized at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory and the Naval Surface Warfare Center in the development of magnetic materials and sensing devices. They were used in mines, minesweepers, the Apollo 16 lunar surface magnetometers, the Voyager missions to Jupiter and Saturn, the Viking Mars orbiter-lander and Sidewinder weapons.

He was among the first to study nuclear radiation effects on magnetic materials. Toward the end of his career, he served as manager of the Very High Speed Integrated Circuit program for the Naval Sea Systems Command.

Mr. Gordon was born in Norwich, Conn., and graduated from Yale University, then moved to Washington in 1942. He received a master’s degree in engineering from Yale in 1947. He also pursued graduate study in physics at the University of Maryland and in 1968-69 served as guest scientist in Israel at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

Mr. Gordon held six patents and published more than 65 professional articles and book chapters. He served as an officer and past president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Magnetics Society and chaired many of its technical, editorial and management committees. He was general chairman of the 1980 International Magnetics Conference.

Mr. Gordon joined Ohr Kodesh Congregation in Chevy Chase in 1952, serving as an officer and past president as well as chairing many committees. He also represented Ohr Kodesh as its delegate to the World Council of Synagogues.

He was treasurer and executive council member of the Board of Jewish Education of Greater Washington. He also sat on the board of directors of the Midrasha Community Hebrew High School and was a founding member of the National Capital Chapter of ORT, an educational group.

Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Clara Siegel Gordon of Chevy Chase; three children, Alan Gordon of West Roxbury, Mass., Joel Gordon of Lexington, Mass., and Lisa Gordon of Washington; a brother; and three grandchildren.