Max De Pree (October 28, 1924 – August 8, 2017) was an American businessman and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

. A son of D. J. De Pree, founder of

Herman Miller Herman Miller, officially MillerKnoll, Inc., is an American company that produces office furniture, equipment, and home furnishings, including the Aeron chair, Noguchi table, Marshmallow sofa, and the Eames Lounge Chair. Herman Miller is al ...

office furniture company, he and his brother Hugh De Pree assumed leadership of the company in the early 1960s, with Hugh becoming CEO and president in 1962. Max succeeded his brother Hugh as CEO in 1980 and served in that capacity till 1987; he was a member of the company's Board of Directors until 1995.Company Timeline
on Herman Miller Company website His book ''Leadership is an Art'' has sold more than 800,000 copies. In 1992, De Pree was inducted into the Junior Achievement's U.S. Business Hall of Fame. He was involved with the Max De Pree Center for Leadership at

Fuller Theological Seminary Fuller Theological Seminary is an interdenominational Evangelical Christian seminary in Pasadena, California, with regional campuses in the western United States. It is egalitarian in nature. Fuller consistently has a student body that compri ...

(established in 1996 as the De Pree Center) since its establishment. He died at his home in Holland, Michigan in 2017.

Studies

He had planned to become a doctor. He studied at Wheaton College but was interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He served in the Army Medical Corps in the

European Theatre of Operations The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

. Still in the Army, he studied at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...

, and the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. After his military service he attended

Hope College Hope College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Michigan. It was originally opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled. The first freshman college class matricul ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1948.

Management style

He fostered the idea of an inclusive corporation, one in which all voices are heard. He was known for his efforts to combine a caring organization with business success. As opposed to the idea of a golden parachute, he proposed the idea of a silver parachute, in which terminated employees who had worked more than 2 years for a company would receive benefits according to the number of years served. He encouraged open communication in the organization. He was often heard to say "Err on the side of over-communication."

Works

*''Leadership is an Art'' ; Michigan State University Press (1987) ; *''Leadership Jazz'' ; Dell Publishing (1993) ; *''Dear Zoe'' ; Harper Collins (1996) ; *''Called to Serve: Creating and Nurturing the Effective Volunteer Board'' ; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (2001) ; *''Leading Without Power: Finding Hope in Serving Community'' ; John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. (2003) ;

References

External links

Personal profile
at the Max De Pree Center for Leadership {{DEFAULTSORT:De Pree, Max 1924 births 2017 deaths American business writers American motivational writers Hope College alumni