Robert C. Pew II is chairman emeritus of Steelcase Inc., the global leader in the office furniture industry. Steelcase delivers a better work experience to its customers by providing products, services and insights into the ways people work. Its portfolio includes architecture, furniture and technology products.

Bob served as chairman of the board at Steelcase for 25 years when he assumed his chairman emeritus role in March 1999.

In a career with Steelcase Inc. spanning more than 47 years, Bob has played an integral role in the company’s growth. Sales were $15 million in 1952 when he joined the company. Fiscal 1998 worldwide consolidated sales, including those of joint ventures, were $3.3 billion. In March 1989, he retired as chief executive officer, a position he held since 1966.

Following three years in labor relations at Doehler-Jarvis Corporation, Bob joined Steelcase in 1952 as a manufacturing expediter. In 1955, he was named superintendent of the company’s desk plant. In 1961, he became plant manager of the consolidated manufacturing operations. He was named administrative vice president in 1962; executive vice president in 1963; and president and chief executive officer in 1966. In 1974, he became chairman of the board.

Bob is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut. A former captain in the United States Air Force, he served as a pilot from 1942 to 1945 and again during the Korean crisis.

Bob received the 1989 Michigan Governor’s Honor Roll Award for his support of the arts. On behalf of Steelcase Inc., he received the National Trust Historic Preservation Award, presented by then President Ronald Reagan in 1989, for the restoration of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Meyer May house in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1990, he was inducted into the Grand Rapids Business Hall of Fame. In 1998, he was named Slykerhouse Businessperson of the Year by the Economic Club of Grand Rapids.

Bob is a former director of the Foremost Corporation of America, Old Kent Financial Corporation, Irwin Seating, Kirsh Company and Wometco Enterprises. He is a past director of the National Organization on Disability andand has served on the Steelcase Foundation. He has served on the boards of Aquinas College, Grand Valley State University, the Cranbrook Academy of Art, United Way, Blodgett Hospital, Michigan Economic Alliance and numerous civic and state committees promoting the betterment of economic growth, education, health care and the arts.

He has received honorary doctorates from Grand Valley State University, Aquinas College and Davenport College of Business.