CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 1, 2004) Crandall Close Bowles is the 2004 recipient of the Doctor of Humane Letters. Bowles, a woman of great professional accomplishment and inspiring personal leadership, has been chief executive officer of Springs Industries, Inc. since 1997 and chairman of its Board of Directors since 1998, the first woman ever to lead the company. President Pamela Lewis presented the award as part of the Queens University of Charlotte undergraduate commencement ceremony in Dana Auditorium on May 1, 2004.
Crandall Close Bowles
Bowles earned her bachelors degree in economics from Wellesley College in 1969. She worked for two years as a statistician at Morgan Stanley & Co. in New York before earning her MBA from Columbia University in 1973. She served as a financial analyst for Springs from 1973 to 1978, then served as an officer of The Springs Company, a privately held management company responsible for non-textile operations and investments. She rejoined Springs Industries in 1992, where she has remained ever since.
Bowles is the fifth generation of the Springs family to lead the company. Her great-great grandfather, Samuel Elliott White, and her great grandfather, Leroy Springs, founded the company in 1887 in Fort Mill, S.C. In the next 116 years, the business grew from a single mill to a company with manufacturing facilities in 13 U.S. states and marketing and distribution subsidiaries in Canada and Mexico.
Springs, a leading manufacturer and marketer of home furnishings, now has annual sales reaching $3 billion. When she assumed leadership, it created a sense of renewed strength and confidence within the company. Her father and grandfather were very popular leaders within the company. Crandall Bowles continued the family legacy. One colleague said about her: "I respect her more than any woman I have ever known. She is intelligent, considerate and thoughtful of other people, especially for the associates of this company, more than 16,000 people. Our employees are committed to this company in part because of the commitment her family has shown through the years."
Her concern for others is also expressed in both private and corporate philanthropy. The company donates well over $1 million every year in cash and products, and the family-run foundations generously support education, recreation, community service and health care in the communities where the company operates.
Bowles is a member and a director of the Springs/Close Family Foundations, which in 2002 made $2.6 million in grants and which have donated more than $80 million since their inception. Crandall Bowles has also served Queens well through the years. She served as a Trustee from 1983 to 1994. President Emeritus Billy Wireman remembers her steadfast service in that era, noting her strong commitment to the liberal arts and her effective leadership in steering Queens through a difficult transition period in its history.
