Russell L. Gordon was elected vice president and chief financial officer in April 2012. Prior to being elected chief financial officer, he worked closely with RPM's operating companies to monitor monthly performance and establish budgets as part of the company's annual planning process.

Russell joined RPM as director of corporate development in 1995 and was elected vice president of corporate planning in October 2007. Prior to joining RPM, he held various financial positions in corporate treasury and control, as well as in the specialty chemicals division at The B.F. Goodrich Company. He began his career as an industrial engineer in wafer fabrication operations at VLSI Technology Inc., where he worked on inventory control, production scheduling and statistical process control initiatives.

Russell earned his bachelor's degree in operations research and industrial engineering at Cornell University in 1987. He also received a master's degree as a Sara Lee Fellow in 1991 from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, where he was elected as a member of Beta Gamma Sigma.