Susan Clark-Johnson

executive director, Morrison Institute

Susan Clark-Johnson became Executive Director of Morrison Institute for Public Policy in May 2009. She retired as President of the Gannett Newspaper Division in May 2008 after 41 years in a variety of news and executive leadership roles with the company. Gannett is a large diversified news and information company with headquarters in McLean, VA., and operations in 41 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the United Kingdom, Canada, Belgium, Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore. It is the USA’s largest newspaper group in terms of circulation. The company’s 85 daily newspapers in the USA have a combined circulation of about 4 million. The Newspaper Division, which also includes about 80 websites and about 1000 weekly newspapers, shoppers and magazines, is the largest division of the Gannett Company. Prior to being named Gannett Newspaper Division President, Clark-Johnson was Chairman and CEO of Phoenix Newspapers, Inc. as well as Senior Group President of Gannett's Pacific Newspaper Group with oversight responsibility for thirty-two companies throughout the West, including Hawaii and Guam. During her newspaper career she worked in Niagara Falls, N.Y., Binghamton, N.Y. and Reno, NV. In addition to her role as newspaper executive for Gannett, she also served a term as Chairwoman of the Newspaper Association of America. She has been recognized by numerous organizations including lifetime achievement awards from The Washington Women’s Center, and the National Association of Female Executives. She was awarded the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award for Diversity efforts from the National Association of Minority Media Executives and the Jerry J. Wisotsky Torch of Liberty Award from the Anti-Defamation League. She is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations; on the board of directors of Pinnacle West, the parent company of APS, and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGEN); and Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University. Clark-Johnson is a member of the O'Connor House board of directors and chair of the O'Connor House advisory group. She also is a former board member of Morrison Institute. Clark-Johnson is a graduate of State University of New York at Binghamton, from which she also received an honorary doctorate. She and her husband, Brooks, live in Paradise Valley, Az. and Lake Tahoe, NV.