Bruce S. Gordon named to head NAACP

WASHINGTON, June 25 (UPI) -- The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People board of directors in Washington selected Verizon executive Bruce S. Gordon as president.

The 59-year-old president of retail markets at Verizon Communications was selected unanimously Saturday by the board of directors in the first part of a two-step process to name a new president.

The board's executive committee will now enter into contract negotiations with Gordon. The board is scheduled to vote for the new NAACP president at its national convention in July.

Gordon has been a member of The Executive Leadership Council since 1996 and he was highlighted in a short film on African-American corporate pioneers produced by SpikeDDB and narrated by Ossie Davis for The Executive Leadership Council's 2003 annual recognition dinner.

The Executive Leadership Council is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization founded in 1986 by 19 African-American corporate executives to create a support network and public leadership forum for black corporate executives.