NEW YORK.- Herman Miller received the coveted 2003 National Design Award for product design from the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum during a gala ceremony October 22 at the museum’s Manhattan location.

The award was granted for the body of Herman Miller’s work in design, rather than for any single product or project.  The National Design Awards are given for extraordinary originality, innovation and design that positively impacts contemporary daily life and culture.

In its commentary announcing Herman Miller’s status as a finalist in the product design category, the museum praised the company as "a design leader for over 70 years, advancing both the science and the art of furniture design."  It also noted that Herman Miller has gracefully blended "accessible, problem-solving furniture design with high style, insisting on design excellence, innovation and integrity in all of its products."

The National Design Award was presented to Herman Miller’s Chairman and CEO Michael A. Volkema, who noted that innovation in design is "part of our DNA at Herman Miller."  Volkema added that the company is fortunate to be built upon a heritage that "puts the human being at the very center of our research-based, problem-solving design."

Paul Warwick Thompson, director of Cooper-Hewitt, said the National Design Awards celebrate the role of design in "many of the quality-of-life issues which are so important today, ranging from environmental sustainability to economic growth and vitality."

The National Design Awards were launched at the White House in 2000 as an official project of the White House Millennium Council.  First Lady Laura Bush served as the Honorary Patron for the 2003 awards, hosting a luncheon for the finalists earlier this month at the White House.

A distinguished seven-person jury representing a wide array of design disciplines reviewed Herman Miller’s winning portfolio, which included briefs on the Mirra, Aeron and Equa chairs, the Action Office and Resolve systems, as well as a look at design in the company’s buildings and publications.  It also contained material on Herman Miller’s many iconic residential furniture designs by Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi and George Nelson.

Herman Miller creates great places to work by researching, designing, manufacturing, and distributing innovative interior furnishings that support companies, organizations, and individuals all over the world.  The company’s award-winning products, complemented by furniture-management and strategic consulting services, generated $1.34 billion in revenue during fiscal 2003. Herman Miller is widely recognized both for its innovative products and business practices, including the use of industry-leading, customer-focused technology.  In 2003 Herman Miller was ranked in the top 50 "most innovative corporate users of information technology" by Information Week, and again included in Business Ethics magazine’s "100 Best Corporate Citizens."  The company trades on the NASDAQ stock market under the symbol MLHR.