A retired cardiologist, Terry Gordon spent more than 20 years working with patients at Akron General Medical Center. Outside of his professional accomplishments, he is best known as a champion for automated external defibrillators.
In 2000, after hearing about a Barberton teen who died of cardiac arrest on the football field, Gordon made it his mission to place these lifesaving devices in every Ohio school. Since then, he has led the way to making AEDs available in every middle school and high school in Summit County, as well as every police, highway patrol and sheriff's vehicle. He also spearheaded an effort to secure $5 million in state funding to install more than 4,500 AEDs in schools across Ohio. For his efforts, he was named National Physician of the Year in 2002 by the American Heart Association.
Beyond Ohio, Gordon is an advocate for AEDs nationwide and has worked with legislators to recreate the initiative in schools around the country. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the United Way's Distinguished Service Award, the Harold K. Stubbs Humanitarian Award in Medicine, and the State of Ohio EMS "Star of Life" Award. Gordon is a Fellow in the American College of Cardiology and past president of the Summit County chapter of the American Heart Association. He is also a retired assistant professor of Northeast Ohio Universities College of Medicine.
Gordon is an active volunteer in the community. He is widely known as the emcee of Docs Who Rock, a fundraiser for the United Way of Summit County, where he has impersonated such musical legends as Michael Jackson and John Lennon. Gordon is a member of the Youth Motivational Task Force and a founding board member of Stewart's Caring Place. He also serves on the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee. Gordon and his wife, Angela, have four children.