Richard F. Teerlink

Board Member

Rich Teerlink joined the Vertex Board of Directors in June 2004.

He is the retired chairman of Harley-Davidson. During his 18 years with Harley he served as chief financial officer, president, chief operating officer, chief executive officer and chairman of the board. He was appointed to the board of directors in 1982 and was part of the leadership team that led the revitalization of this American icon.

In 1986, he helped guide the company back to public ownership and subsequently led the successful cultural transformation effort. This effort was based on the premise that "People are an organization's only sustainable competitive advantage." The process to bring this premise into reality is described in the book he co-authored with Lee Ozley, "More Than a Motorcycle:The Leadership Journey of Harley-Davidson."

After graduation from Bradley University in 1960, Rich had the benefit of working at large and small, public and private companies at both the corporate and divisional levels in both line and staff assignments. During that time he held key executive positions at Herman Miller, RTE Corporation, Union Special Corporation, and MGD Graphic Systems.

He serves on the board of directors of Johnson Controls Incorporated and Snap-On Incorporated. He is also an active board member and participant in many privately held businesses and community organizations.