From 2009 through 2017, Ilene Gordon was chairman, president and CEO of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) and executive chairman from January through July 2018. Ingredion is a leading global producer of nature-based ingredient solutions for food, beverage, brewing and industrial customers around the world. At Ingredion, Ilene was a transformational leader, responsible for leading the company from $2B in market cap to $10B. A FORTUNE 500 company, Ingredion had 11,000 employees and net sales of $5.8 billion in 2017.

Ilene joined Ingredion in 2009 from Rio Tinto Alcan, where she was president and CEO of Alcan Packaging, a $6.5 billion global packaging business based in Paris, France. Over her 10-year tenure with Alcan and Pechiney (acquired by Alcan in 2003), she held various leadership positions, starting as SVP of Pechiney Plastic Packaging.

Previously Ilene spent 17 years in executive roles of increasing responsibility at the Packaging Corporation of America, a division of Tenneco Inc. Before joining Tenneco Inc., Ilene spent two years at Signode, a leading global packaging company specialized in materials handling. From 1976-1980, Ilene worked at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as a strategy consultant based in the Boston, London and Chicago offices.

Currently Ilene is presiding director of International Paper (Chair of the Nominating/Governance Committee), a director of Lockheed Martin (Chair of the Management Development Compensation Committee), and a director of IFF (International Flavors & Fragrances). Ilene is also on the MIT Sloan Executives Board, Americas, on the board of The Economic Club of Chicago, and on the Executive Committee of the CCE Group. She is listed among Forbes Global Game Changers and was one of FORTUNE’s Most Powerful Women for a number of years: five consecutive years on the U.S. list and two years on the global list.

In 2018 Ilene received the Executive Leader Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals. In 2017 she received: The Civic Federation Lyman J. Gage Award for outstanding civic contribution; the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce Daniel H. Burnham Award for Distinguished Leadership; the Committee of 200 Corporate Innovator Luminary Award; and the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award, distribution and manufacturing category. Additionally, she received the Committee for Economic Development Leadership in Diversity Award in 2016 and the National Association of Corporate Directors 2013 Director of the Year award.

Ilene holds a BS in mathematics, Phi Beta Kappa, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Mass., and an MS in management from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.