He was named for his grandfather, prominent Methodist minister Gordon Battelle, who had helped found the state of West Virginia before dying of disease as a chaplain in the American Civil War.
They married in Memphis, Tennessee in 1881, where John Gordon Battelle had moved from Wheeling, West Virginia to establish an iron manufacturing company.
After working for his father for several years, young Gordon Battelle struck out on his own and invested in lead mining and smelting operations near Joplin, Missouri.
His mother devoted many hours to church, charitable work and benevolent political movements, and had become one of the largest donors to private charities in Columbus.
He regarded scientific research as not only a means of making industry more efficient, but also of solving social problems and uplifting the common man.
The Institute conducts research in areas such as global climate change, sustainable energy technologies, high performance materials, next generation healthcare diagnostics and therapeutics, and advanced security products and services for people, infrastructure, and the nation.