Meet Bruce Gordon

If you want the short story, I could sum up my life by saying that I am a husband, father, teacher and business person that strives not only for success, but to ensue that my Christian beliefs permeate everything I do.  As you might have guessed, I love photography and travel.  If you want to check out some of my images, you can go to a portfolio I’m building at brucegordon.myportfolio.com.

My academic background includes an undergraduate degree in Finance and Business Computer Science from Jacksonville State University, an M.A. in Finance from the University of Alabama,  and a Ph.D. in Finance and Real Estate from the University of North Texas.  My major field of interest is real estate and the vast majority of my published research is in that area.   If you are really bored, you can take a look at my CV by clicking here.  It is guaranteed to solve any insomnia problems you might have.   After obtaining my undergraduate degree, I went to work for AmSouth Bank, which is now Regions.  I was in their management training program and worked in various parts of the bank.  I can’t say that I was too fond of banking, and after a while I decided to work in the family insurance business while I figured out what I wanted to do.  While at JSU, I had a professor that told me that he thought I would be a good college teacher, and that thought never really left me.  I received a fellowship from the University of Alabama and used that to obtain my masters.  In those days, it was very hard for schools to hire someone with a Ph.D. in Finance and I was able to get hired at UNA with a masters degree in Finance and teach as an instructor.  I had finally found my calling.  I loved teaching, especially the interaction with students.  Since a Ph.D. is a minimum requirement for a successful academic career, I left UNA on a leave of absence for three years and completed my terminal degree at the University of North Texas.  I returned to UNA and taught for over twenty years and then spent four years teaching at UAB.  I am very happy to be back at UNA.

Outside my academic career,  my wife, Diane, and I own a small real estate brokerage firm (Bruce Gordon Real Estate) and also a real estate investment company (Gordon Group Properties).  I have also started a manufacturing firm that manufactures carts for marching groups to hold speakers, electronics and instruments.  You can see some of the products manufactured by Performance Carts when you watch the UNA Marching Pride perform.  In this video, you can see our speaker carts along the front sideline.  My wife is a California native, and in her former life worked for Disney.  She spends her time working in our businesses and trying to manage our two boys while she has the chance.  

In addition to staying busy teaching and working, I am also active at my church and work with the drumline at a local high school, where my son marches.  I have worked with several schools over the years and I enjoy the creative process and also the interaction with the kids.

Last, but certainly not least, we have two teenage sons, Ethan and Eric.  Ethan is into music and basketball and Eric is a soccer fanatic and frequent gamer.  Ethan will be headed to UNA in Fall 2021 and plans to eventually be a surgeon.  Eric plans to be a pilot, but also likes photography.  We’ll see if they stick to those plans or find something else they like even better.  Please excuse my UAB shirt and Ethan’s UAB hat.  I happened to be working at UAB when these photos were made, but I’ll update them as soon as I have something better.  I taught at UNA for many years before I spent four years at UAB and I certainly am a loyal UNA fan.