| Gordon Lee Calvert |
Gordon L. Calvert
GORDON LEE CALVERT (Age 89) Gordon Lee Calvert, former
Executive Director and General Counsel of the Investment Bankers Association
of America (IBA) died June 21, 2011 at his home in the Leisure World
community in Silver Spring, MD. He had battled melanoma for over a year at
the time of his death.
Mr. Calvert was born in Wardensville, WV in 1921, and moved to
Washington, D.C. in 1924. In 1939, after graduating from Roosevelt High
School where he served as Colonel and Brigade Commander for all cadets in
the city, he attended George Washington University (GW). He graduated from
GW with a BA degree under a special wartime program allowing students to
combine the final year of undergraduate study with the first year of law school.
While in law school he served as a law clerk at Covington Burling in
Washington. Upon graduating from GW Law School as a member of the Order
of the Coif, he commenced work on a full time basis at the Covington firm
specializing in anti-trust law.
In 1946, Mr. Calvert joined the IBA, a national trade organization of
investment bankers and large commercial banks as Asst. General Counsel. In
1954, he also became Municipal Director of the IBA and edited "Fundamentals
of Municipal Bonds", a book which covered the rapid growth of municipal bond
issuance, the procedures in underwriting, legal opinions and the mathematical
computations in pricing and yields of municipal bonds. This book was published
and copyrighted in hard back; thousands of copies were sold to investment firms
for use as both a training tool for employees and an education guide for clients.
He also authored the Digest of Investments of State Pension Funds while
with the IBA. From 1966 to 1971, he served as Executive Director and General
Counsel of the IBA. In 1971, the IBA merged with the Association of Stock
Exchange Firms to form the Securities Industry Association (SIA). Mr. Calvert
served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the SIA before
joining the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1972 as Washington office
General Counsel. In 1976, Mr. Calvert left the NYSE and accepted a position as
Executive Director of the Commercial Collection Agency of the Commercial
Law League of America. While in this role, he worked to establish the members
of the League as an elite group of commercial collection agencies deserving the
trust of creditors through development of a Code of Ethics and bond posting
requirements for the protection of customers. He authored the Digest of State
Laws Regulating Debt Collection Agencies while serving in this role. He served
as Director of the League until retirement in 1991.
After living in Silver Spring, MD from 1949 to 1965, he lived in Bethesda
for 39 years before moving to Leisure World in 2004. With his love of the
outdoors and desire to spend time with his three sons, Mr. Calvert was active in
Boy Scouts; he served as a scouting leader of Troop 209 at Woodside United
Methodist Church in Silver Spring, MD.
He also enjoyed tennis and swimming. With his primary focus being to
spend time with family, he enjoyed leisure time at his vacation home near
Berkeley Springs, WV and regular visits to Sea Colony at Bethany Beach, DE.
During retirement, he and his wife traveled extensively including trips to
Russia, Scandinavia, China, Thailand, Alaska and the Caribbean.
During his career, he was a member of the Exchequer Club (serving as
Chancellor in 1972), the American Bar Association and the American Society of
Association Lawyers. He was a member of the Metropolitan Club of
Washington and the Columbia Country Club of Chevy Chase.
While living in Bethesda, he was an active member of 4th Presbyterian
Church and upon moving to Leisure World became an associate member of the
Interfaith Center.
Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Margaret James Calvert; sons
Gordon R. Calvert of Catonsville, MD, Roger L. Calvert of Ellicott City, MD,
Walter R. Calvert of Ellicott City, MD, seven grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren. Services were held in June.
Published in The Washington Post on July 12, 2011
