Marjory Gordon RN Ph.D FAAN is an emeritus professor of nursing at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. She is most known for the theory of nursing assessment known as Gordon's functional health patterns and she remains the international leader in this area of nursing scholarship. Dr. Gordon is the author of four books, including the Manual of Nursing Diagnosis, now in its twelfth edition. Her books appear in ten different languages, in forty-eight countries across six continents.[1]
A second area of significant contribution is in the development of standardized nursing language. Dr. Gordon's work in this sphere has enormous implications for research, education, evaluation of competency, and the establishment of a core of nursing knowledge based on evidence. This language will also form the basis of the nursing component of the electronic medical record.[2]
Marjory Gordon is an alumna of the Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from Hunter College of the City University of New York and her Ph.D from Boston College.
Dr. Gordon served as the first president of the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association[3] and has been a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) since 1977. In 2009, she was selected as a Living Legend by AAN. This award is one of the highest honors in nursing and signifies outstanding contributions to the field.[4]