Bruce S. Gordon

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Bruce Scott Gordon is an African American business executive, selected in June 2005 to head the NAACP, a major American civil rights organization.

Born in Camden, New Jersey, Gordon's parents were both active in the civil rights movement. A 1968 graduate of Gettysburg College, where he was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, and a 1988 Master's degree in Management (M.B.A.) graduate of the Sloan Fellows program of the MIT Sloan School of Management, Gordon's professional career began at Bell of Pennsylvania, where he rose in corporate management to become the head of the retail markets division of Verizon upon his retirement in December 2003. Other Verizon executives have credited him with helping to promote diversity and a corporate culture based on customer serivce at the telecom company.

Among other professional activities, Gordon sits on the boards of the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Office Depot, and Tyco International. Black Enterprise magazine named him executive of the year in 1998; Fortune magazine named him one of its 50 most powerful black executives in 2002;

Gordon's selection as NAACP president on 25 June 2005 was widely regarded as unusual -- most of the organization's past presidents have been prominent figures in politics, religion, or the civil rights movement before holding the office. The only candidate seriously considered by the organization's board, he was approved by a unanimous vote and was confirmed at the July 2005 NAACP convention. He succeeded Kweisi Mfume, who resigned his post as NAACP president in late 2004.

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