Biography

Gordon Quan is a lifelong resident of Harris County. While born in China, Gordon and his family moved to Houston following the Chinese Revolution in 1951. Like many, his family lost most of what they had and started over again in the Magnolia Park area in the East End of Houston with a neighborhood grocery store where his parents Bill and Esther Quan raised Gordon and his younger siblings – Wanda, Beverly, Rick and David.

The family lived behind the store and the children all took turns working in the store while doing their school work. All of the children graduated from Milby High School. Gordon was the first in his family to go to college. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and graduated with a degree in History and Government. At UT, he was a member of the men’s service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega and the Baptist Student Union.

Returning to Houston, Gordon took a job as a teacher with H.I.S.D. and was assigned to E.O. Smith Junior High School in the Fifth Ward, one of the poorest schools in Houston. Gordon devoted countless hours working with students after school hours as a Boy Scout leader, Human Relations Club sponsor and History Club sponsor. Additionally, he decided to pursue a degree in guidance and counseling in the evening at the University of Houston to improve his skills earning a Master’s Degree in Education.

Wanting to do even more to help others, Gordon decided to pursue a law degree. He attended the South Texas College of Law (STCL) in the evening while raising his family and working at a federally funded multi-cultural program – People Place of Houston to teach appreciation and tolerance of other cultures. He graduated with a Juris Doctorate degree from STCL and now serves on the Board of Directors of the law school helping others who wish to study law.

Gordon has been practicing law for over 32 years opening his own firm in 1980 as a solo practitioner, his practice has grown into one of the largest immigration law firms in the world with offices in six cities and a staff of over 200. He has earned inclusion in Best Lawyers in America, Who’s Who in American Law, Texas Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in Houston and was recently elected to membership in the exclusive American Law Institute (less than 4,000 lawyers are members nationally).

In 1999, Gordon was elected as the first Asian American at large member of the Houston City Council. He was asked to chair the important Housing and Community Development Committee and is credited with numerous programs to help communities throughout the city of Houston including his work on recovery following Tropic Storm Allison and Hurricane Rita as well as working with those fleeing Hurricane Katrina.

His work on store safety issues earned him the “Council Member of the Year” Award by the Houston Police Officers Union. His chairmanship of the Blue Ribbon Commission to End Chronic Homelessness led to his selection as “Friend of the Homeless” by the Coalition to End Homelessness. He was also honored by the American Institute of Architects for his leadership on providing a plan for affordable housing. He was also recognized by the Area Agency on Aging for his work on addressing congregate meals and developing a summit to review how the city could be more responsive to the needs of an aging population. He also received the “Voice for Children” by Children at Risk for his positions on housing for families in need.

In 2001, Gordon was selected by the Mayor and City Council to serve as Mayor Pro Tem. He immediately set about revising this office. He implemented modern recording for committee meetings, made the Council floor more accessible for visitors, created conference rooms for meetings and still cut the office’s budget by 20%. He monitored Council spending leading to money returned to the city budget from every office.

Since leaving office, Gordon has continued to serve the community. As chair of the Asian Chamber of Commerce he has led the chamber in developing more programs for its members and has seen the organization grow to almost 1000 members and make the move into its own office building.

As vice chair of the Asia Society, Texas Center, he has worked on the Asia House Project which has now broken ground on a $50 Million cultural center to provide more understanding of Asia and its importance to the U.S and Houston.

Working on the advisory board of Catholic charities and the Women’s Home he has helped to provide guidance and funding for the construction of new affordable housing in Independence Heights and the Spring Branch area.

As a board member of Neighborhood Centers Inc. Gordon has worked on developing policies to reform our broken immigration system. For his work on behalf of others, Gordon was selected the recipient of the 2009 International Service Award by the Houston’s Junior Chamber of Commerce. He also had his name added to the Wall of Tolerance in Birmingham, Alabama by the Southern Poverty Law Project.