ELLEN GORDON (*1931) didn't grow up expecting to enter the family business: At the time, a young woman was supposed to put her energies into marrying and raising a family. As it turned out, though,she had energy to spare. She married, raised four daughters, and stepped into her father's position as head of Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. When she was named president and COO in 1978, only one other company listed on the New York Stock Exchange had a woman president.

Ellen Gordon may not have been outspoken about her ambitions, but her actions demonstrate her unconventional mind set. At Vassar, she was one of the few math majors at that all-women's college. Her marriage to Melvin Gordon at age 18 put college on hold, but in 1965-by then the mother of three children-she received her BA from Brandeis. She went on to study Indo-European linguistics at Harvard.

In 1968 Ellen Gordon took a position as director of Tootsie Roll, where her husband had become CEO. They proved a formidable team, bringing even greater prosperity to the already well-established company. Her father, William Rubin, had entered the business during the 1930s by gradually buying enough stock to become the majority shareholder. She has made a point of maintaining that control, acquiring enough shares that the company can't possibly be taken over. She has promoted expansion through the acquisition of other classic candy brands, and she insists on using the latest production technology for maximum efficiency. Refusing to make too much of the obstacles she has encountered as a woman in business, she laughs as she tells of the men's club that tried to deny her entrance to a meeting, then reluctantly agreed to sneak her in through the back. Why waste energy complaining? She's got a business to run.

Ellen Gordon says the transition from being a homemaker to being a business woman did not strike her as startling because both roles included very similar activities.

"One of the things you do as a parent is to make sure in the morning that everybody goes off in the direction they're supposed to. [You get] them ready for school, or get them ready for work, make sure that they're fed, make sure that they are off to do productive things. And I found this very similar to what you do in business because you can't do it all alone, you're always working with people." — Ellen Gordon