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Goldsmith, Yamasaki, and Specht 1970

In October of 1970 Paul Specht resigned as Vice President of Chapman Goldsmith and Yamasaki. He had no immediate plans upon leaving but was immediately contacted, without his solicitation, by the clients he had served for the previous 19 years requesting that he continue to provide them with design services.

Prior to joining the Chapman firm Paul served during WWII in the 14th Armored Division in the European theatre of operations. Upon discharge he briefly attended Valparaiso University before entering The School of the Art Institute as a scholarship student. There he early on discovered Industrial Design and promptly changed his major. While still a student, Paul began consulting for business connected with the American Furniture Mart. His early successes led to an increasing demand for his services and in 1949 established his own firm, PBS Design.

In 1952 Paul was offered a staff designer position with Russel Wright at his NYC studio. A year later he accepted an offer to join the Chicago design consultancy firm, Dave Chapman, Goldsmith and Yamasaki. During his tenure with Chapman he rose to the position of Vice President of Engineering, a position he held until his departure in late 1970. During his time at Chapman, Goldsmith and Yamasaki, Paul was responsible for major new clients for the firm including Outboard Marine, Johnson Motors, Studebaker-Worthington, International Tractor, ITT, Encon Corp, among many others.

Within weeks of Paul’s departure from the Chapman office, Bill Goldsmith and Kim Yamasaki also left and the three joined forces under the corporate name of Goldsmith, Yamasaki and Specht, initially located at 75 East Wacker Drive, Chicago. In 1996, subsequent to the retirement of Kim Yamasaki and the demise of Bill Goldsmith, GYS was purchased by First Company , Kansas City, Kansas. David McCormick, a partner in First Design, became president of GYS. In 1999, GYS sold the Chicago office to SundbergFerar.

Sundberg-Ferar
Sundberg-Ferar 1934

In 1934 Carl Sundberg and Montgomery Ferar established Sundberg-Ferar.