Max DePree to Speak March 29

Max DePree will deliver the final address in the 1999-2000 Presidential Lecture Series at Hope College on Wednesday, March 29, at 4 p.m. in the main theatre of the DeWitt Center, located on Columbia Avenue at 12th Street.

          DePree, who is chairman emeritus of Herman Miller
  Inc. and the author of books on leadership, will present
  "Does Leadership Have a Future?"
          The public is invited.  Admission is free.
          Herman Miller Inc. is an international company
  engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of office
  furniture systems and related products, and of products for
  the health care industry.  It is one of the largest office
  furniture manufacturers in the world, with extensive
  facilities in the United States and several other countries.
  The company has been cited for its excellence in management
  and innovation by "Fortune" magazine in its list of most-
  admired companies.
          DePree began his career with Herman Miller Inc. in
  1947.  For 40 years, until December of 1987, he worked in
  nearly all areas of management, including for 18 months in
  Europe directing the international operations.  He was chief
  executive officer during his last eight years with the
  company.
          He is the author of four books:  "Leadership is an
  Art," "Leadership Jazz," "Dear Zoe" and "Leading Without
  Power."
          DePree is a member of the "Fortune" magazine
  National Business Hall of Fame.  In 1997 he received the
  Lifetime Achievement Award from the Business Enterprise
  Trust.  He is the recipient of six honorary degrees,
  including one from Hope in 1987.
          He serves on the board of trustees of Fuller
  Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., and is also a
  member of the advisory board of the Peter F. Drucker
  Foundation for Nonprofit Management.  He was a member of
  Hope's board of trustees from 1983 to 1995, chairing the
  board from 1987 to 1995.
          His education began at Wheaton College but was
  interrupted by military service during World War II--
  including one-and-a-half years in the European Theatre of
  Operations.  Under the Army's direction he studied at the
  University of Pittsburgh, Haverford College and the
  University of Paris.  He attended Hope after completing his
  military service, graduating with a bachelor of arts degree
  in 1948.
          He and his wife Esther live in Holland, and have
  four married children and 11 grandchildren.
          The 1999-2000 Presidential Lecture Series was
  organized as an on-going commemoration of the inaugural year
  of President James Bultman.  The five-address series has
  been designed to consider the future of higher education
  with a focus on Hope.