Bill Stumpf, creator of the Aeron chair, passes away at 70

To all you dot-commers who spent tons of money on truckloads of Aeron Ergonomic Office Chairs back in the day, please stand up and salute Bill Stumpf, who died late last month at the age of 70. This industrial designer was made famous by his 1994 Aeron chair, which has made the drudgery of an eight hour work day a fair bit more bearable -- and likewise continues to make 16-hour Engadget workdays roll on for Pete and Ryan. Even from the beginning Stumpf's chef d'oeuvre earned it a place in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, one month before it was released to the public at a trade show in September 1994. More recently, in an interview with The New York Times, Bill Dowell, a former partner of Stumpf's at Herman Miller, recalled that Stumpf delayed production of the first Aeron chair by a whole year because a woman testing the chair had to get up to adjust it. Stumpf will be posthumously presented with the National Design Award in Product Design on October 18 in New York.

[Thanks, Veronica]

[Johan @ Sep 11th 2006 9:38PM]

Sad, very sad. I love these chairs. Have been using them for a few years now, have not had ANY problems with them. Hate to see great people leaving us.

[iptydafu @ Sep 11th 2006 9:52PM]

the aeron is crap--no #19 by any measure

[Mike Evangelist @ Sep 11th 2006 9:55PM]

My rear and my back are eternally grateful for his work.

[enzo @ Sep 11th 2006 10:32PM]

nice calling first post on an article about someone who passed away...

[Fred @ Sep 11th 2006 10:35PM]

R.I.P

and can you give name of said chair for $180, currently looking to buy a nice office chair, thanks

[masteroffm @ Sep 11th 2006 10:37PM]

the only thing that i dont like about these chairs is that it is impossible to discretely pass gas

[Ian! @ Sep 11th 2006 10:40PM]

At one of my jobs, we have a couple of these. Super-nice for when you're stuck in front of a computer/DAW editing and mixing for hours.

Up until today I didn't know who the manufacturer was. One of the guys at my other job (developing software environments for computer labs) has one, and I went over to look at it at the end of the day, after everyone else had left. Weird that now that I know who made it (and confirmed that its actually a $900 chair), I come home and find out that the guy who designed it died.

RIP man, you designed a sweet chair.

[Ben @ Sep 11th 2006 11:12PM]

I'm sitting in one of these babies right now. Nice chair. My dad won it in one of those goldfish bowl business card things. Sweet deal.

[Zach Marshall @ Sep 11th 2006 11:16PM]

Oh my god, a $900 chair? Is it REALLY that comfortable? I have a $60 "leather" chair that I bought from Office Max that has a built in massager, that I have to say i think is extremely comfortable. But 900 bucks? DAMN!

[Big Sam @ Sep 11th 2006 11:36PM]

I loved those chairs in our old office. Wish I could afford one for my home.

[Russell @ Sep 11th 2006 11:57PM]

leather chairs suck a** after you've spent quality time in a properly sized aeron :)

[Dave @ Sep 12th 2006 1:32AM]

Hate these chairs. The support they provide for my back was horrible.

I've got a Humanscale Freedom at home & at work though, and I love it.

[toodaloo @ Sep 12th 2006 1:48AM]

Like the Aeron or not, Bill Stumpf changed the seating world forever. I own a few earlier Herman Miller chairs that I believe Mr. Stumpf had a hand in designing. They lasted 17 years. For my next chair, I was really tempted by the new Aerons with the shiny finish, but I usually sit upright at the front edge of the seat, I bought the equally-priced Freedom Chair instead. But know the Freedom chair and the ergo task chair market wouldn't be the same without Stumpf.

During the dot com boom, I once looked out my window on Bryant St. in SF and saw 10 Aerons being pushed across the street, down 2nd St. towards South Park -- it was the best "dot com" scene ever.

[WhyNot @ Sep 12th 2006 11:08AM]

Humanscale Freedom is ridiculously expensive. A cloth chair and alloy base is like $1200. I'd not care so much if I wasn't paying for it, but I'll give my chiropractor $10 a month for a tune-up and stick with my $200 chair. :)

[Joan @ Sep 17th 2006 11:37AM]

Design..."aims to make our existence more meaningful, connect us to natural realities, show us the graces of natural restraint, infuse serious work with playful humor, and extend human capacity - physical, emotional and spiritual."
From Bill Stumpf's book The Ice Palace That Melted Away ~ which is a must read.

Bill was a humble, discerning, imaginative, kind, and brilliant human being with a passion for integrating civility into the design of our daily lives ~ on all levels. There is much to learn from his designs and words...inspirational catalysts for personal and community integration. The Aeron chair is one such example.

[John Griffis @ Nov 1st 2006 12:17AM]

I have 2 of these chairs... and i work with them all day long, We converted 98% of Disney's chairs to Aerons, and i have to say that they are by far one of the best chairs to own... well worth the money...