Gordon Urquhart, 1937–2024

Professor emeritus Gordon Urquhart, who brought an international perspective and lilting Scottish accent to Cornell during his 20 years on the faculty, died July 11, 2024, at age 86 in Jasper, Georgia. 

Urquhart was a faculty member in the economics and business department from 1984 to 2004, teaching many courses for the international business major. His marketing students assisted Cornell’s admission office and also worked with numerous local businesses in developing marketing and business plans. In 1996 research by five of his students found that Cornell students made a $1 million annual economic impact in Mount Vernon. That study and similar ones with the towns of Lisbon, Springville, and West Branch, were part of Urquhart’s work with the state-funded Iowa Leadership Institute.

Urquhart taught adult Chautauqua courses at Cornell and gave lectures on a wide range of economics topics. At the time of his retirement Dennis Damon Moore, Dean of the College at the time, called Urquhart a “consummate humanist” who “considers the world from a multicultural perspective.”

He held two master’s degrees from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Prior to Cornell he taught at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and in England. He also worked as a financial analyst for United Brands in the Netherlands and for Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids.

Urquhart cycled with Cornell’s team RamBRAI on RAGBRAI for several years and participated in community theater in Cedar Rapids.  He and his wife, Sheila Urquhart ’02, were longtime volunteers for a golden retrievers rescue organization, fostering the dogs and taking them on therapy visits throughout the area. They were active with the Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist in Cedar Rapids and participated in the area’s annual Celticfest.

He is survived by his wife, Sheila, sons James (and wife Mia) and Iain (and wife Jennifer); two grandsons; three granddaughters; and his mother-in-law.