Retired academic and English language champion Ian Gordon died in Auckland on Sunday, a day after receiving his fourth honorary doctorate, aged 96.
Known as I.A. Gordon, he had a show on National Radio and wrote a language column for the Listener. He also wrote 20 books, including A Word in
Your Ear and Take My Word for It, and edited the Collins Concise English Dictionary.
The Victoria University council on Saturday awarded Emeritus Professor Gordon an honorary Doctor of Literature degree. He was the Chair of English at Victoria from 1936 to 1974.
He had already received honorary doctorates from the University of New Zealand, the University of Bristol and Scotland's Stirling University, and was awarded a CBE in 1971.
Victoria's vice-chancellor, Professor Stuart McCutcheon, said Professor Gordon made an indelible mark on the study of language in New Zealand. He "was a knowledgeable and stimulating teacher and many notable graduates cut their teeth under his tutelage and went on to professorial positions at Oxford and Cambridge universities".
His students included Bob Burchfield, who became editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, and Harry Orsman, who compiled the Dictionary of New Zealand English.
- NZPA
