Gerrard Wendell Haworth (October 11, 1911 – October 25, 2006) was the founder of office furniture manufacturer

Haworth Haworth () is a village in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, in the Pennines, south-west of Keighley, west of Bradford and east of Colne in Lancashire. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope. Nearby villages inc ...

Early life and education

Born in Nebraska, he moved to

Benton Harbor, Michigan Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is 46 miles southwest of Kalamazoo and 71 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. According to the 2020 census, its population was 9,103. It is the smaller, by population, o ...

in 1926, where he attended high school. After graduating from

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

, he taught industrial arts at Holland High School in

Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River (formerly known locally as the Black Ri ...

. Haworth also studied at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Career

Hoping to earn extra money to put his children through college, Haworth started a woodworking shop in his garage in 1945. Three years later, he quit teaching to focus on his new company full-time, which was known as Modern Products. In 1975, his company moved to a new facility along M-40. In recognition of the move, the company became Haworth, Inc. In 2003, he cut back from working five days a week to three. In 2005, G. W. Haworth retired completely from the company he started. Haworth died on the morning of October 25, 2006, aged 95.

Philanthropy

G. W. Haworth was a major supporter of many

West Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Pe ...

causes.

Western Theological Seminary Western Theological Seminary (WTS) is a private seminary located in Holland, Michigan. Established in 1866, it is affiliated with the Reformed Church in America, a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. ...

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 matricu ...

, Grand Valley State University his alma mater

and Black River Public School, as well as the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Holland have all benefited from Haworth's donations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haworth, Gerrard Wendell American chief executives of manufacturing companies Western Michigan University alumni People from Benton Harbor, Michigan People from Holland, Michigan Businesspeople from Nebraska 1911 births 2006 deaths University of Michigan alumni 20th-century American educators Schoolteachers from Michigan 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American businesspeople

Early life and education

Career

Philanthropy

See also

References