Gordon Fogo

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James Gordon Fogo (1896-07-09 – 1952-07-06) was a Canadian lawyer and senator.

Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he studied law at Dalhousie University and served in the Canadian Army in World War I. He married Helen Louise Fisher. While making a name for himself in corporate law, he was also active in the Liberal Party, where he became a protégé of William Lyon Mackenzie King. He was appointed co-chairman of the Third National Convention of the Liberal Party in 1948. Reporting this appointment, Time Magazine characterized him as “a reliable worker behind the scenes, whose political gift is to stop bootless quarreling and secure quiet settlements” (Time Magazine, Aug 2, 1948). Fogo was summoned to the Canadian Senate in 1949, and represented the senatorial division of Carleton, Ontario. Impressed by his relative youth and energy a contemporary newspaper editorialized, "what the Senate needs is fewer old fogeys and more young Fogos!" Nevertheless, he died in office just three years later, in 1952. Fogo was survived by his wife (b. 1900) and two children. His legacy is perpetuated by two awards at Dalhousie University, the J. Gordon Fogo Prize for Excellence in Commercial Law, and the J. Gordon Fogo Bursary, a need-based scholarship.