Gordon Shaw, professor emeritus of operations management & information systems and one of 16 founding faculty members of what is now the Schulich School of Business at York University, died peacefully at Toronto East General Hospital on May 7 at age 83.
The only son of Emma and Kenneth Shaw of Walkerville, Ont., Gordon Charlton Shaw (left) was born on Sept. 14, 1926, and received his early education in Walkerville. In 1949 he received his BA (Hons.) in mathematics and economics at Queen’s University. After several years with the research department at Canadian Pacific Railway and after obtaining his master of science degree at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Prof. Shaw became a founding faculty member of the MBA program at Queen’s University.
In 1966, after obtaining his PhD at the Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Prof. Shaw joined the faculty of the new business school at York University, then called the Faculty of Administrative Studies.
In 2003, York established the Gordon Charlton Shaw Professorship in Management Science, currently held by Wade Cook, associate dean research and professor of operations management & information systems at Schulich.
York also established several student awards in Prof. Shaw’s name thanks to his generous donations: The Gordon Charlton Shaw Bursary for BBA/iBBA students in Year 2 or Year 3 of their studies and the Gordon Charlton Shaw Achievement Award for a graduating BBA/iBBA student. Both awards are designed to recognize students who have who demonstrated academic excellence and made a significant contribution to student life.
In 1982, following his lifelong interest in marine transportation, Prof. Shaw became a director and later president of the Muskoka Steamship & Historical Society, Gravenhurst, owners of the steam passenger vessels: Segwun and Wanda II. As president, Prof. Shaw promoted the building of the new passenger ship, Wenonah II. He also served as a director of the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston and as a trustee of the Queen’s Theological College and of Queen’s University.
Prof. Shaw has always been a proud member of the United Church of Canada and was active with a number of its boards and committees. He is survived by many friends sharing his marine interests and by his dear cousins, Margaret Shaw, Barbara and Andy Stevenson, Jo-Anne and Ian Shaw and their families.
The family will receive friends in Thornhill United Church, 25 Elgin Street, Thornhill from 10am until the time of the memorial service at 11am. on Tuesday, May 18. Interment will take place at a later date at the Joseph C. Shaw plot, Riverview Cemetery, Wallaceburg.
Memorial donations may be made to the Muskoka Steamship & Historical Society, 275 Steamship Bay Rd., Gravenhurst, ON P1P 1Z9 or to Thornhill United Church, 25 Elgin St., Thornhill, ON L3T 1W5. Condolences and memories may be forwarded through the Humphrey Miles Funeral Home Web site.