Trustees gather to honor De Pree and his donation to Fuller’s archives
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05/23/12
On Sunday, May 20, the Max De Pree Center for Leadership and the
trustees of Fuller Theological Seminary celebrated the
gift of the Max De Pree Collection from Max and Esther De Pree to the Fuller
community.
Max De Pree is a widely influential former Fuller board member. He
served for many years as chairman and chief executive officer of Herman Miller,
Inc.—an office furniture company widely recognized for its people-centered
management—and authored several popular management and leadership books,
including Leadership Is an Art, Leadership Jazz, Leading
Without Power, and Called to Serve. Well known for his generosity of spirit, De Pree has mentored many
leaders through the years, including David Allan Hubbard, Fuller’s longtime
former president for whom the seminary library is now named.
After 40 years of service on Fuller’s Board of Trustees—six of
those as chair—De Pree retired from the board in 2005, while his legacy
continued through the Max De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller. In 2006, he donated
some of his papers, books, periodicals, and media to the De Pree Center, which
have now been archived and made available to the seminary community as the Max
De Pree Collection.
Trustees, Fuller administrators, and De Pree Center
administrators gathered on May 20 on Fuller’s Pasadena campus for a celebratory
dinner and presentation of the archival exhibit, now on display in the David
Allan Hubbard Library. Max and Esther De Pree and their family were the guests
of honor, and a token archival piece was presented to Fuller President Richard
J. Mouw.