Professor Gordon King made significant medical and personal contributions in five major world arenas, namely the United Kingdom, China, Hong Kong, Australia and Africa.
He was born in London in 1900 and received his undergraduate medical training and specialisation in obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of London, after which he went to China to teach at the Peking Union Medical School. He was regarded as a medical pioneer in China.
He later took up an appointment as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at what was then known as the Cheeloo Medical School at Shantung University, which is one of the highest ranked academic and medical training programs in China.
He taught, worked in the hospital, and prepared medical texts and curricula for the Medical School.
His work there was legendary.
He then moved to Hong Kong University as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. His wartime training programs in western China for many of the Hong Kong medical students are considered remarkable.
After Hong Kong fell in 1941, he escaped the Japanese and went to Chung King in Free China, where he and other colleagues established a Medical School to enable the continuation of medical studies for Hong Kong University students who had also escaped into China. He ensured the degree was recognised in the United Kingdom.
In 1945 he returned to Hong Kong, where he became Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University and from where he was recruited to become the Foundation Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the UWA and also Foundation Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He was also an honorary consultant at Royal Perth Hospital.
He eventually retired in 1965 but was then called on to be the Foundation Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at University College, Nairobi, Kenya from 1966 to 1969.
He was married with three daughters, one of whom, Allison, was a lecturer in English at UWA and is married to Justice Geoffrey Kennedy, a former Chancellor of UWA. The other two, Margaret and Ellen, became doctors and practised interstate.
