Interface Founder Ray Anderson Dies

Atlanta, GA, Aug. 9, 2011 -- Ray C. Anderson, founder and chairman of Interface, Inc., died of cancer on Monday, surrounded by his family at his home in Atlanta. He was 77.

An honors graduate of Georgia Tech's school of industrial and systems engineering in 1956, Anderson founded Interface in 1973 to produce the first free-lay carpet tiles in America. Today, the carpet tile category is the fastest growing in the flooring industry, and Interface is the largest shareholder in the category.

Though Interface revolutionized the commercial floorcovering business, it is for Anderson's legendary environmental epiphany in 1994 for which he will best be remembered. In 1997, Ray described his sustainable vision for Interface: "If we’re successful, we’ll spend the rest of our days harvesting yester-year’s carpets and other petrochemically derived products, and recycling them into new materials; and converting sunlight into energy; with zero scrap going to the landfill and zero emissions into the ecosystem. And we’ll be doing well … very well … by doing good. That’s the vision.”

Today, 17 years later, the company has made significant progress towards that vision, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 35%, fossil fuel consumption by 60%, waste to landfill by 82%, and water use by 82%. During that same period, Interface avoided over $450 million in costs, increased sales by 63% and more than doubled earnings.

Anderson transitioned from day-to-day management of the company in 2001 when Dan Hendrix became CEO, and spent the next ten years as non-executive chairman, focusing his time and energy on the business case for sustainability, delivering more than 1,000 speeches and authoring two books on the topic.

In addition to a host of honors and acknowledgements from environmental organizations both inside and outside the flooring industry, Anderson was awarded 12 honorary doctorates for his work, including one from his alma mater, Georgia Tech.

"Not only did Interface and the world lose a great man today, but I lost a friend and mentor," Hendrix said.

"Ray's iconic spirit and pioneering vision are not only his legacy, but our future. We will honor Ray by keeping his vision alive and the Company on course."

Listen to an interview with Dan Hendrix to hear more about Ray Anderson's Legacy.Click here to listen.