Mark Sutton became chairman of the International Paper Board of Directors on January 1, 2015, and CEO on November 1, 2014. Immediately prior to becoming CEO, he served as president and chief operating officer from June 1, 2014 to October 31, 2014 with responsibility for leading and running the company’s global businesses. He has been a member of the International Paper Board of Directors since June 1, 2014. 

Sutton has been with the company his entire career. He joined International Paper in 1984, as an engineer at the Pineville, La., mill. In 1994, he was named mill manager at the Thilmany, Wisc. mill, which at the time was part of International Paper’s industrial papers business. In 2000, Sutton relocated to Europe to serve as director of European corrugated packaging operations and was promoted to vice president and general manager responsible for all corrugated packaging operations across seven countries in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region in 2002. In 2005, he was named vice president – strategic planning and relocated to Memphis. He was appointed vice president – supply chain in 2007 and elected senior vice president – supply chain in 2008. In 2010, Sutton became senior vice president – printing and communications papers of the Americas. Sutton was appointed senior vice president – industrial packaging in November 2011.

Sutton serves on the Board of Directors for The Kroger Company (NYSE: KR). He is a member of the Business Roundtable and The Business Council. He also serves on the American Forest & Paper Association Board of Directors and the Memphis Tomorrow Board.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Louisiana State University.