Gene Richter, one of the great figures in purchasing and the supply chain of the Twentieth Century, passed away suddenly July 27 while on a family vacation in Gatlinburg, Tenn.

Gene led supply organizations at three different major companies to major innovations in the purchasing and supply management field. At IBM, he led the drives to outsourcing and Internet-based sourcing, and created centralized purchasing through commodity councils, saving Big Blue many millions of dollars. The efforts by Gene and his teams, who all became close friends and admirers, resulted in three PURCHASING magazine Medals of Professional Excellence, the most ever won by anyone. Gene valued team play above all else and was always embarrassed whenever it was mentioned that he won three Medals of Excellence.

It was Gene's ability to recruit, rally and inspire outstanding professionals that was probably his greatest gift. I asked him once what qualities he most looked for when recruiting managers and he responded, "People who are really great with other people." They could learn the technical skills and the knowledge of purchasing, and whatever else they needed to know. But they had to have great people skills.

One of his protégés at IBM, Theresa Metty, was recently named chief procurement officer at Motorola, and made these comments about her long-time mentor:

"To say that Gene Richter's passing is the end of an era would be a terrible injustice to this very special man. Gene did so much to elevate the stature of our profession and we shall miss him terribly. The greatest tribute to Gene would be to honor his memory by continuing the journey he began so many years ago. The journey to bring recognition to this great profession and elevate procurement leaders to the most senior executive levels and to boardrooms all over the world."

Gene was born Sept. 30, 1937, in Silver Springs, Md.

He began his procurement career at Ford Motor Co. after receiving a bachelor's degree in marketing and economics from the University of Maryland and a master's degree from the University of Michigan. He worked at Ford for 23 years and served in a variety of roles. In 1988, Gene 's team at Black & Decker received the Medal. Gene moved to Hewlett-Packard, where he developed written sourcing strategies, sourced globally, and developed alliances with leading-edge suppliers. The H-P team won the Medal in 1992. Gene was a member of the Purchasing Editorial Advisory Board for 19 years.

At IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Black & Decker, Gene had unprecedented support from senior management because of his legendary abilities. He inspired confidence wherever he went.

Gene leaves his wife of 23 years, Nancy; five sons; and 13 grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to Purchasing Magazine's Gene Richter Memorial Scholarship Fund at PURCHASING Magazine, 275 Washington St., Newton, MA 02458.