Dear Members of the TC Community,

It is with deep sadness that we write to share news of the passing of Peter Gordon, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Education and Director of TC’s Language and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, on June 7, 2026 at the age of 69. 

A valued member of the Teachers College community for more than 25 years, Professor Gordon served on the Faculty Executive Committee for many years. He had also chaired the College’s Institutional Review Board since 2024, and headed the Neuroscience and Education Program from approximately 2001 to 2020. 

Professor Gordon’s scholarly interests in the fields of language acquisition and cognitive science included critical periods in second language acquisition, syntax and semantics and cross-cultural studies of numerical and linguistic knowledge. In the early 2000s, he spent several years studying the Pirahã, an isolated Amazon tribe of [then] fewer than 200 people. The Pirahã language contains no words for numbers beyond "one," "two" and "many," and Professor Gordon’s research was groundbreaking in documenting an analog estimation process for quantities beyond that. The findings indicated that numerical cognition is clearly affected by the lack of a linguistic counting system, culminating in a 2004 seminal study published in the prestigious journal Science that has been cited more than 1,600 times. Other field research in the 1990s included visits to the Maici River in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, and Kadiwéu Indigenous Land in Matto Grosso do Sul, Brazil. 

At TC’s Language and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Professor Gordon led empirical research on the neural correlations of speech, language and cognition, using behavioral, eye-tracking, and electroencephalographic modalities. The goal was to increase understanding of the process and representations on language and cognitive development from adult and child perspectives in clinical and educational areas. 

In 2003, with the support of a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Professor Gordon and Professor Andrew Gordon mobilized a group of TC faculty to acquire a state-of-the-art, high-density electroencephalographic (EEG) system that is still in use today, along with eye tracking and motion capture equipment. The equipment has been instrumental to the teaching and research of several faculty and dozens of students, further advancing our understanding of the interdisciplinary studies of language and neural activities. 

Born in Bangkok, Thailand, Professor Gordon’s interest in language and neuroscience developed while growing up in a multilingual environment. Prior to joining TC, he was a research scientist with the Department of Psychology at New York University and an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He also taught previously at Harvard University, Stanford University, where he was a Sloan Postdoctoral Fellow in Cognitive Science, and Northeastern University. Professor Gordon earned his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and B.A. from the University of Stirling, Scotland. 

Professor Gordon was an esteemed scholar, mentor, colleague and friend to many of us at TC, and we invite you to join us in celebrating his legacy. As a scholar who spent countless hours each week reading to gain a breadth of knowledge, Professor Gordon conducted thoughtful and impactful studies, supervised student research on a wide array of topics and served as a constant source of expertise for his students and colleagues. Among his many other accomplishments, he was a talented guitarist and banjo player. 

On behalf of the entire Teachers College community, we extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones. Professor Gordon is survived by his wife, Yim, and son, Milo. Information about a memorial service will be communicated at a later date. 

Sincerely,

KerryAnn O'Meara
Provost and Dean of the College
Professor of Higher Education
Teachers College, Columbia University

Lori Quinn
Professor of Movement Science and Kinesiology
Chair, Department of Biobehavioral Sciences
Teachers College, Columbia University