A multi-discipline graduate of NC State University including a BS in computer science in 1975, Suzanne Gordon had a long and extremely successful career at SAS Institute. During her 30+ years at SAS, she held a variety of key leadership roles, rising to the Vice President of Information Technology, and eventually Chief Information Officer at the world's largest privately held software company. As a key leader at SAS, she had great influence on SAS' tremendous growth and success.Gordon has numerous professional honors to her credit. In 2003, she was named a Premier 100 IT Leader by Computerworld and she was recognized by the Triangle Business Journal as one of the region's top 25 women in business. In 2004, she was appointed to the Board of Directors at Arsenal Digital Solutions. In addition to her professional accomplishments, Gordon has made a significant impact over time in the area of Community and Public Service. For more than a decade, she has worked with Communities in Schools (CIS) of Wake County, serving on their board for most of that time and serving as board chair 2012-2014. While mentoring older students at CIS, such as a young lady (17), whose family sought refuge from the Congo before she was born, Gordon became aware that many of them do not have someone showing them how to get a job, write a resume, etc. This inspired her to launch her own non-profit, Gordon Services, which works with a mission to provide young at-risk people with guidance and experience in the professional world. Gordon takes great pride in mentoring students personally and she uses her non-profit to help young people in her community to get work experience and find jobs. Gordon is also active with her church, First United Methodist in Cary, where she serves as a Stephen Minister. Stephen Ministers supplement the pastors by working with people going through crisis, like job loss, sickness, or death of loved one. Because of her technical background, she is often asked to counsel scientists and technical people who need someone to listen to them.Gordon has long been actively engaged in service to the NC State University community. She has held a variety of volunteer leadership roles in the Wolfpack Club, Engineering Foundation Board of Directors, and was a member of the N.C. State Board of Trustees. She served on the Alumni Associate Board of Directors in the 1980s and on the College of Management advisory board in the 1990s. In 1999, Gordon received the Distinguished Alumna of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. She also remains actively engaged through her involvement with the Mathematics Scholarship Endowment Committee, a guest speaker at departmental functions, and is a strong supporter of women in technology initiatives. She and her husband, Ralph (NC State BS CE ’72, MS CE ‘74), have created multiple scholarship endowments to help students in multiple disciplines including computer science.