Margaret Louise Schutz was born January 11, 1921, in St. Louis, Missouri to Henry and Minnie (Jacoby) Schutz. She attended Washington University in St. Louis, where she studied psychology and sociology, graduating in 1943. She immediately thereafter entered the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington Unversity. After four semesters (two in the summer), she graduated with her Masters in 1944.

Schutz was hired onto the faculty of Washington University, where she was an instructor and thesis supervisor until 1948. After that she joined the staff of the Washington University Medical Center as a case worker, eventually rising to the rank of Assistant Director of the Social Services Department. In 1957 she rejoined the faculty of Washington University and became the Director of Field Instruction as well as a professor.

In 1970, Schutz joined the faculty of the University of Kansas, where she was a professor in the School of Social Welfare as well as the director of the field practicum program. She married William E. Gordon, her long-time associate and research partner from Washington University, in 1980. In 1983 she was elected to the University of Kansas Women's Hall of Fame.

Gordon retired as Professor Emerita in 1987. After her retirement she became active in numerous community groups, guest lectured at the School of Social Welfare, and was appointed to several government committees dealing with issues facing elderly populations, particularly housing, in Kansas.

Gordon's husband William died in 1990. Margaret Schutz Gordon died October 3, 2016 in Kirkwood, Missouri.