The Economic Club of Grand Rapids Invites You to the 36th Annual Dinner on June 3, 2025, featuring a dynamic conversation with Best-Selling Authors about innovative and courageous leaders who have changed the world.
WALTER ISAACSON and MICHAEL LEWIS
On this special occasion, we will be honoring the 2025 winners of our Business Person of the Year and Slykhouse Community Leadership Awards.
Matthew Missad
Executive Chairman, UFP Industries, Inc.
Business Person of the Year Award
David & Carol Van Andel
Van Andel Institute and Philanthropy Leaders
Slykhouse Community Leadership Award
Ticket sales are now open!
Walter Isaacson
Best-Selling Author of Elon Musk, Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Einstein, and Benjamin Franklin, among others
Acclaimed Historian and Journalist; Professor of History, Tulane University
Guest of Honor
Walter Isaacson is a Professor of History at Tulane and an advisory partner at Perella Weinberg, a financial services firm based in New York City. He has been the CEO of the Aspen Institute, the CEO of CNN, and the editor of Time Magazine.
Isaacson’s most recent biography, Elon Musk (2023), is an intimate chronicle based on spending two years by Musk’s side. He is also the author of The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race (2021), Leonardo da Vinci (2017), The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution (2014), Steve Jobs (2011), Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007), Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003), and Kissinger: A Biography (1992), and coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (1986).
He is a host of the show “Amanpour and Company” on PBS and CNN, a contributor to CNBC, host of the podcast “Trailblazers, from Dell Technologies.”
Michael Lewis
Best-Selling Author of The Premonition, The Blind Side, Moneyball, and The Big Short, among others
Guest of Honor
New York Times best-selling author Michael Lewis has published many books on subjects ranging from the Moneyball methodology and big-data analytics to the rise and fall (and rise, again) of Wall Street. Lewis’ newest #1 New York Times bestselling book Going Infinite tells the story of FTX’s collapse and the enigmatic founder at its center, Sam Bankman-Fried. He is also the author of The Premonition (2021), The Fifth Risk (2018), The Undoing Project (2016), The Big Short (2010), The Blind Side (2006), and Moneyball (2003), among others.
A sharp observer of politics, finance, and the evolution of American culture, Michael Lewis combines keen insight with his signature wit, making him one of today’s leading social commentators. Lewis’ program takes a fresh, hard look at the ever-changing value systems that drive our economic markets, political landscapes, and cultural norms, and how organizations can adapt their thought strategies to facilitate growth among all three.
Lewis is the creator and host of Apple’s #1 rated podcast Against the Rules, a searing look at what’s happened to fairness in American life through the lens of people who depend on public trust.
Matthew Missad
Executive Chairman, UFP Industries, Inc.
Business Person of the Year Award
Matthew J. Missad (Matt) is Executive Chairman of UFP Industries, Inc., a global leader in the retail, construction, and packaging industries with annual revenues at around $7 billion.
Mr. Missad joined the company in 1978 as a seasonal employee, and his rise through the company’s ranks has been distinguished by a trademark commitment to the power of hard work and respect for every employee, from production level to executive leadership. He joined the company full-time in 1985 as Manager of Legal Compliance and in 1996 he was named Vice President of Corporate Compliance.
Upon accepting his role as the company’s fifth CEO (and later Chairman in 2023), Mr. Missad led the company out the Recession into aggressive growth through a series of bold mergers and acquisitions that transformed UFP Industries into a multibillion-dollar powerhouse.
He was instrumental in creating subsidiaries within the UFP family of companies, including Universal Development and Real Estate, UPI Mortgage, and Ardellis Insurance Ltd. He also helped create UFP Business Administration program which provides a business administration degree in two years, with full scholarships for UFP employees.
He stepped down as CEO for fiscal 2025 and will continue to serve the company as Executive Chairman.
About David Van Andel
David Van Andel is chairman and CEO of Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids. In addition to his leadership at the Institute, Van Andel is also an entrepreneur involved in several other business interests. He currently serves on Amway’s Board of Directors, where he is a member of the Executive, Governance and Audit committees.
A dedicated community leader, Van Andel is active in numerous business, cultural and community organizations including The Right Place Economic Development Agency and The Economic Club of Grand Rapids.
Van Andel played a prominent role in bringing professional hockey back to Grand Rapids in 1996. He is the co-owner and chairman of the Grand Rapids Griffins, a two-time Calder Cup champion team, and co-owner and chairman of West Michigan Soccer, the city’s newest professional soccer team.
Born and raised in Grand Rapids, Van Andel is a graduate of Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He and his wife, Carol, are proud parents of four children and five grandchildren.
About Carol Van Andel
Carol Van Andel has long been a force for positive change in West Michigan, leaning on her verve and other intrinsic gifts to inspire others and make improvements in the fields of health, education, science and the arts that compose the storied culture of Grand Rapids and environs and beyond.
As co-chair of Grand Action 2.0, she has played a key role in the development of two major projects that will transform downtown Grand Rapids: the Acrisure Amphitheater, a 12,000-seat riverside outdoor concert and event venue set for completion in 2026, and the Amway Soccer Stadium, an 8,500-seat facility scheduled to open in 2027.
At Van Andel Institute, a world-renowned biomedical research and educational center in downtown Grand Rapids, Ms. Van Andel spearheads more than a half-dozen annual initiatives that raise awareness and funds, including Hope on the Hill and Couture for a Cure.
She and her husband, David, and their four sons together comprise the David and Carol Van Andel Family Foundation, which makes significant gifts to a wide array of non-profit endeavors worldwide.
Over the course of four decades, Ms. Van Andel has helped a long list of organizations grow, thrive and fulfill their missions. She has been recognized with several significant awards for her service to others. A true community leader, Ms. Van Andel is always eager to explore new ways to help West Michigan organizations and people soar.
David & Carol Van Andel
Van Andel Institute and Philanthropy Leaders
Slykhouse Community Leadership Award
Ticket sales are now open!
Past Annual Dinner Speakers
2024 – Oprah Winfrey, Chairman & CEO of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, Global Media Leader, Producer, Philanthropist, Actress, Author
2023 – Tom Brady, Seven-Time World Champion Quarterback
2022 – Venus Williams, Legendary Tennis Champion
2019 – Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to United Nations, 2017-19
2018 – Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, 2006-2011
2017 – David Cameron, Prime Minister, UK, 2010-16
2016 – Ben Bernanke, Chairman, U.S. Federal Reserve, 2006-14
2015 – Derek Jeter, Legendary NY Yankee & Journalist, George Will
2014 – Richard Branson, Founder & Chairman, Virgin Group
2013 – Hillary Rodham Clinton, 67th Secretary of State
2012 – Tony Blair, Prime Minister, UK, 1997-07
2011 – Madeleine Albright, 64th Secretary of State & Gen. Colin L. Powell, 65th Secretary of State
2010 – George W. Bush, 43rd President, United States
2009 – Condoleezza Rice, 66th Secretary of State
2008 – Tom Brokaw, Retired NBC News Anchor
2007 – William Jefferson Clinton, 42nd President, United States
2006 – Bono, Co-Founder of DATA and Lead singer of U2
2005 – General Colin L. Powell, 65th Secretary of State
2004 – Madeleine Albright, 64th Secretary of State
2003 – Her Majesty Queen Noor, Queen of Jordan
2002 – Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan, 1988-96
2001 – Antonin Scalia, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1986-16
2000 – F.W. DeKlerk, President of South Africa, 1989-94
1999 – John Major, Prime Minister, UK, 1990-97
1998 – Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, 1981-85
1997 – Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel, 2007-14
1996 – Stephen R. Covey, Author, and Lecturer
1995 – Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House, 1995-99
1994 – Gen. Colin L. Powell, Chair, Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1989-93
1993 – James A. Baker III, 61st Secretary of State
1992 – Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, 4-Star General, U.S. Army
1991 – Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister, UK, 1979-1990
1990 – George F. Will, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Columnist
1989 – Paul Erdman, Novelist, Economist
1988 – Mark Shields, Political Analyst
