The Honorable Susan M. “Sue” Gordon is the former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, serving (2017-2019), where she advised the President on intelligence matters and provided operational leadership of the agencies and organizations of the Intelligence Community (IC).
Sue joined the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1980 and served for 29 years, rising to senior executive positions in each of the Agency’s four directorates (Operations, Analysis, Science & Technology, Support), and has led large scale organizational change and delivered revolutionary outcomes such as leading the establishment of In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s unprecedented, independent, not-for-profit, private VC firm.
Sue has been recognized for her creative executive leadership, receiving numerous awards, including the Distinguished Intelligence and Distinguished Career Intelligence medals, Presidential Rank awards, and the Oliver Baker, Lundahl-Finnie, and William Webster leadership awards.
As a seasoned board director, she serves as an independent director on the boards of CACI International, BlackSky, SecurityScorecard, and the MITRE Corporation; and on government advisory boards on national security and intelligence, including the Defense Innovation Board, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is also the founder and principal of GordonVentures, LLC., a professor with our Duke University – The Fuqua School of Business and a distinguished Duke University alumnus.
For more about Sue’s storied career and her perspectives on leadership, watch her conversation with Fuqua’s Dean, Bill Boulding at Duke University – The Fuqua School of Business’ Distinguished Speaker Series event (2021).