Melvin J. Gordon (November 26, 1919 – January 20, 2015) was an American business executive and businessman. He served as the chairman and CEO of Tootsie Roll Industries for fifty-three years, from 1962 until January 2015. Gordon, who was 95 years old, was the oldest CEO of a company trading on a major American

stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for th ...

at the time of his death in 2015. He oversaw the day-to-day production of the company's trademark brands, including Tootsie Rolls,

Tootsie Pops A Tootsie Pop (known as Tutsi Chupa Pop in Latin America) is a hard candy lollipop filled with the chocolate-flavored chewy Tootsie Roll candy. They were invented in 1931 by an employee of The Sweets Company of America. Tootsie Rolls had themsel ...

, Junior Mints, and Charleston Chews. As of 2015, the company manufactures approximately sixty-four million Tootsie Rolls per day.

Biography

Gordon was born in November 26, 1919, in Boston, Massachusetts. He received a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1941 and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1943. After college, Gordon moved to a military training school in Camp Lee, Virginia, where he was hired as a quartermaster instructor. He later became the editor of ''Quartermaster Journal''. Gordon then became the chief executive of a women's hosiery and knitwear company headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire. Melvin Gordon married his wife, the former Ellen Rubin, in 1950. Ellen Gordon's father was William Rubin, the president of the Sweets Company of America, which manufactured Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops. Gordon became the CEO of the company in 1962, a position he held until his death in January 2015. The company changed its name to Tootsie Roll Industries in 1966. Under Gordon, Tootsie Roll Industries acquired Mason and Bonomo, the manufacturer of Dots

gumdrops Gumdrops are a type of gummy candy. They are brightly colored pectin-based pieces, shaped like a narrow dome (sometimes with a flattened top), often coated in granulated sugar and having fruit and spice flavors; the latter are also known as spic ...

, during the 1970s. The company also purchased the Charm Company, the maker of

Charms Blow Pops The Charms Candy Company was a candy company founded in 1912 and sold to Tootsie Roll Industries in 1988. History Walter W. Reid Jr. founded the Charms Candy Company in 1912. The company was originally called Tropical Charms, a reference to the ...

, in the 1980s. Gordon added the Junior Mints and Sugar Daddy's to the company's product acquisitions during the 1990s. He also oversaw the purchase of the Dubble Bubble and

Andes Chocolate Mints Andes Chocolate Mints are small rectangular candies. The crème de menthe variety consists of one mint-green layer sandwiched in between two cocoa based chocolate flavored layers. The candies are usually wrapped in green foil and imprinted with ...

by Tootsie Roll Industries in the early 2000s. In 2006, Gordon donated $25 million to build the Ellen and Melvin Gordon Center for Integrative Science (or GCIS �isɪs at the University of Chicago. ''Candy Industry Magazine'' awarded Gordon its Kettle Award in 2009. Ellen Gordon, the company's president, also received the Kettle Award in 1985. The Gordons became the first husband and wife to win the award, which the magazine nicknamed "Kettle's First Couple." Gordon continued to work a full daily schedule until December 2014. Melvin Gordon died in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 20, 2015, following a short illness at the age of 95. He was survived by Ellen Gordon, his wife of 65 years, and their four daughters, Virginia L. Gordon, Wendy J. Gordon, Lisa J. Gordon and Karen Gordon Mills. Gordon's widow, Tootsie Roll Industries president and chief operating officer

Ellen Gordon Ellen is a female given name, a diminutive of Elizabeth, Eleanor, Elena and Helen. Ellen was the 609th most popular name in the U.S. and the 17th in Sweden in 2004. People named Ellen include: *Ellen Adarna (born 1988), Filipino actress *Ellen ...

, was appointed as the company's new chairman and CEO by the board of directors following her husband's death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Melvin 1919 births 2015 deaths American chief executives of food industry companies Harvard Business School alumni Businesspeople from Boston 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists