Mechanical engineer. Among the items he designed were engines, airplanes, automobiles, telephone exchange equipment and high-speed turret lathes. Born near San Francisco, he traveled to Japan in 1918. He sought to use his skills to establish an aircraft company in Japan in order to develop an airmail system. He brought two single-engine biplanes that he sold to the Japanese army. He later served as a consultant to Canon, Ltd., helping to establish more efficient production systems. He also served as a consultant to the Kokusan Seiki Co. Ltd. (later Hitachi-Seiki), assisting in the design of machine tools. In the early 1940s, as international diplomatic relationships became strained, the Japanese government began trying to expel foreigners. On May 26, 1941 Mr. Gorham became a naturalized Japanese citizen. His Japanese name was "Gohamu Katsundo." Mr. Gorham's son, Don C.Gorham, graduated from Tokyo Imperial University in March 1941 and had wanted to remain in Japan to continue graduate studies in Japanese literature. His parents directed him, however, to return to the United States to earn a Ph.D. in linguistics and work to promote better U.S./Japanese relations from within the U.S. After the Second World War, Gorham worked as a member of Board of Directors for the Nissan Motor Corporation. Following the war, there was widespread poverty, famine and a dearth of energy and raw materials in Japan. Under those circumstances few people were motivated to work for the recovery of Japan. Gorham was among those in the industrial sector who worked not only for the company, but for the improvement of conditions in Japan. Unfortunately, in 1949, he became ill and died prematurely. Nevertheless, he had accomplished much. His dedicated efforts played an important role in Japan's industrial development and growth as an economic power.