Distinguished Economist, Arthur Laffer,
and Noted Business Leader, Richard Heckmann,
Named to MPS Group Board of Directors
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (April 28, 2003) - MPS Group, Inc. (NYSE:MPS), a leading
provider of specialty staffing and business solutions, today announced the
addition of Dr. Arthur Laffer and Richard Heckmann to the MPS Group Board of
Directors.
Dr. Arthur Laffer (age 62) is the founder and chairman of Laffer Associates, an
economic research and consulting firm. Dr. Laffer's economic acumen and
influence have earned him the distinction in many publications as "The Father of
Supply-Side Economics." In addition to sitting on several boards of directors of
public and private companies, Dr. Laffer was a member of President Reagan's
Economic Policy Advisory Board during the 1980s.
Dr. Laffer has served as a consultant to Secretary of the Treasury William
Simon, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and Secretary of the Treasury
George Shultz during the 1970s. He was the first to hold the title of Chief
Economist at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Mr. Shultz from
1970 to 1972.
Dr. Laffer was formerly the Distinguished University Professor at Pepperdine
University and a member of the Pepperdine Board of Directors. He also was the
Charles B. Thornton Professor of Business Economics at the University of
Southern California from 1976 to 1984. He served as Associate Professor of
Business Economics at the University of Chicago and was a member of the Chicago
faculty from 1967 through 1976.
Dr. Laffer has widely been acknowledged for his economic achievements. He was
featured in Time Magazine's March 1999 cover story, "The Century's Greatest
Minds," for inventing the Laffer Curve, which it deemed one of "a few of the
advances that powered this extraordinary century." He was listed in "A Dozen Who
Shaped the `80s" in the Los Angeles Times on January 1, 1990, and in "A Gallery
of the Greatest People Who Influenced Our Daily Business," in the Wall Street
Journal on June 23, 1989. His creation of the Laffer Curve was deemed a
"memorable event" in financial history by Institutional Investor in its July
1992 Silver Anniversary issue, "The Heroes, Villains, Triumphs, Failures and
Other Memorable Events."
The awards received by Dr. Laffer for his economic work include two Graham and
Dodd Awards from the Financial Analyst Federation for outstanding feature
articles published in the Financial Analysts Journal; the Distinguished Service
Award by the National Association of Investment Clubs; the Adam Smith Award for
his insights and contributions to the Wealth of Nations; and the Daniel Webster
Award for public speaking by the International Platform Association.
Dr. Laffer received a B.A. in economics from Yale University in 1963 and an MBA
and a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University in 1965 and 1971,
respectively.
Richard Heckmann (age 59) founded United States Filter Corporation in 1990 and
served as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Under his leadership, the
NYSE-listed company grew to approximately $5 billion in revenue. It was acquired
by Paris-based Vivendi S.A. in 1999. Mr. Heckmann presently serves as the
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of K-2, Inc. (NYSE:KTO), a premier, branded
consumer products company with a primary focus on sporting goods and other
recreational products. K-2, Inc. recently acquired Rawlings Sporting Goods
Company. He also is Chairman of the Listed Company Advisory Committee of the New
York Stock Exchange. He was director and owner of Smith Goggles until its sale
in 1996. He is also a founder of Callaway Golf, Inc. and Tower Scientific
Corporation, where he served as Chairman.
Mr. Heckmann has served as the associate administrator for finance and
investment of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and is a former director
of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He chaired the board of advisory for
the Harold Price Center for the Anderson School at UCLA. Mr. Heckmann and his
wife Mary, together with the State of California, funded a new graduate school -
the International Center for Entrepreneurial Management (The Heckmann Center),
which is part of the University of California, Riverside system. He is a Trustee
of the Eisenhower Medical Center and University of California Riverside, and
also a member of the Business Council of the University of Notre Dame Business
School.
Mr. Heckmann attended the University of Hawaii and completed the Small Company
Management Program at Harvard Business School.
Commenting on the appointments, Derek E. Dewan, MPS Group Chairman, said, "We
are pleased to welcome Arthur and Richard to our board of directors. Their
business acumen and experience in finance and corporate governance will prove
invaluable to our organization."
About MPS Group
MPS Group is a leading provider of staffing, consulting, and solutions in the
disciplines of information technology, finance and accounting, law, engineering,
and healthcare. MPS Group delivers its services to government entities and
businesses in virtually all industries throughout the United States, Canada, the
United Kingdom, and Europe. A Fortune 1000 company with headquarters in
Jacksonville, Florida, MPS Group trades on the New York Stock Exchange. For more
information about MPS Group, please visit www.mpsgroup.com.