Bob Chapman, Barry-Wehmiller Chairman, Passes Away Barry-Wehmiller has announced the passing of its Chair- man of the Board, Robert H. Chapman. Bob Chapman was more than a business leader, author and speaker, he was a relentless optimist who dedicated his life to building a better world. He worked to redefine what it meant to be a leader in business, to further the understanding that it was an awesome responsibility be- cause the way we lead impacts the way people live. He worked tirelessly to bring more caring to business and built the foundation for Barry-Wehmiller to champion new definitions for success in business: by demonstrating that economic growth and human vibrancy can exist in harmony.
Bob became CEO of a struggling Barry-Wehmiller in 1975 upon the death of his father, William Chapman. At the time, the company was a $20 million supplier of equipment for the brewing industry. As of 2025, when Bob handed the reins of the business to his son Kyle, the current Pres- ident and CEO, Barry-Wehmiller had become a $3.6 bil-
lion-plus global powerhouse with 12,000 team members and a portfolio spanning industrial and packaging automation, pro- fessional services and life sciences tech- nology. Beyond his business acumen, in the late 1990s into the 2000s, Bob underwent a personal transformation that changed his thinking from that of traditional “manage- ment” to what would later be called Truly Human Leadership. He then spent the last 15 years of his life sharing the lessons of his transforma- tion by writing prolifically and speaking to audiences around the world. Those experiences and the principles Bob championed were the inspiration behind his 2015 Wall Street Journal best- seller Everybody Matters: The Extraordi- nary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, coauthored by his friend, Raj Siso- dia, founder and coauthor of Conscious Capitalism. Since its release, the book has been translated into eight languages and, in 2025, was re-released in a revised and expanded edition, chronicling more of the evolution of his thinking and the company he led. Bob’s views on leadership have been featured internationally in hundreds of me- dia outlets such as CBS Sunday Morning, CNBC, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Inc., Harvard Business Review, The St. Lou- is Business Journal, Chief Executive, The CEO Magazine and many more. His 2012 TEDx talk has been viewed more than 300,000 times. In 2013, Bob and his wife Cynthia launched a nonprofit, Chapman Founda- CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
10 March 30, 2026
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