Paul Murray, environmental safety and sustainability director for Herman Miller, Inc., Zeeland, Mich., will speak at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 9, in the fifth floor library atrium.

"The Power Of One: How You Can Embrace and Communicate the Environmental Ethic" talk is free and open to the public.

Murray will discuss how the actions of just one person can inspire greater environmental awareness with a community and a campus.

Herman Miller is an American manufacturer of office furniture and equipment, and home furniture. The products are designed to be ecologically sound. The design techniques involve saving materials, energy efficient manufacturing, recycled content and recyclable content. The furniture is also designed to be disassembled.

Murray guides the company's day-to-day "green" initiatives. The South Dakota native first worked as a high school teacher before switching careers to become a research chemist. He joined Herman Miller in 1988 as a wood finishing production manager.

He championed a number of environmental initiatives which ultimately earned him the position as the firm's first environment affairs manager in 1992.

The Schurz Library Speaker series provides speakers of intellectual interest to the university and the community on topics related to the campus theme, which is sustainability.