<p>NAME: Bruce S. Gordon.</p><p>AGE: 59 (Born Feb. 15, 1946 in Camden, N.J.).</p><p>EDUCATION: Bachelor of arts, Gettysburg College; master of science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow.</p><p>PERSONAL: Lives in Manhattan. Married to Tawana Tibbs. One son, Taurin Gordon, 27, of Philadelphia.</p><p>CAREER: Began as a management trainee at Bell of Pennsylvania in 1968. Retired 35 years later as head of Verizon's biggest division, retail markets, which had 34,000 employees and did $25 billion in sales. Also directed corporate advertising and brand management. Named Executive of the Year by Black Enterprise magazine in 1998 and named one of the "50 Most Powerful Black Executives" by Fortune magazine in 2002.</p><p>QUOTE: "Who's to say that I would have been the best person (for this job) eight or nine years ago? But today, my background, my skills and expertise seem to be well-suited for the NAACP and where it's going. I think that one of the mistakes that people have a tendency to make is to say if you haven't spent your career in the civil rights movement, you're not a civil rights person. I think that's when you have a narrow definition of civil rights. I think you're hard-pressed to be a black person in America and not be involved in the civil rights struggle."</p>
