Defense giant Northrop Grumman announced the election of Bruce S. Gordon to its board of directors.
Gordon’s appointment brings the board total to 14 members, 13 of whom are non-employee directors.
“Bruce Gordon is a highly experienced director with a distinguished career as an executive in the telecommunications industry and as the leader of the NAACP,” said Ronald D. Sugar, Northrop Grumman chairman and chief executive officer.
Gordon was the president of the NAACP from 2005 to 2007. During his tenure Gordon worked to foster diversity and inclusion and to achieve greater economic equality for all Americans.
He abruptly quit the organization after a long-running disagreement with the group’s 64-member board over how to lead the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization.
“I believe that any organization that’s going to be effective will only be effective if the board and the CEO are aligned and I don’t think we are aligned,” Gordon told the Associated Press shortly after he resigned.
Gordon
had a 35-year career in the telecommunications industry in 2003, retiring as the president of the retail markets group for Verizon Communications Inc. He was also group president of the enterprise business unit, president of consumer services, vice president of marketing and sales for Bell Atlantic.Gordon currently serves as lead director of Tyco International and as a director of CBS Corp. He previously served on the boards of Office Depot, Best Foods and is a trustee of the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, UNICEF, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and Commission on African American Men and Boys. He is also a member of the Executive Leadership Council.